(Washington, D.C.) The Air Force is giving its 1970s-era F-16 fighter F-35 technology as part of a massive fleet-wide overhaul intended to improve targeting, attack precision and computer systems — to extend the fighter’s combat life all the way into the 2040s.
It might be tough to imagine that today’s Air Force F-16 dates back as far as the 1970s, a circumstance which might lead some to wonder how the combat aircraft has sustained its combat relevance and performance capacity into the dynamic threat environment of the 2020s.
F-16 Service Life Extension Program
The answer is actually quite extensive and goes back many years to the inception and preservation of an F-16Service Life Extension Program which upgraded the upper wing skin and fittings, adjusted the bulkhead and canopy and gave the aircraft an F-35Active Electronically Scanned Radar (AESA).
Active Electronically Scanned Radar (AESA)
With AESA, the F-16 incorporated an entirely new ability to find, detect and track enemy threats at much greater ranges. The aim of the SLEP was to extend the flight time of F-16s from roughly six-to-seven thousand flight hours to 8,000 or more flight hours. On top of that, the service’s confidence in the upgrades have led to plan to have the F-16 fly all the way out to 12,000 hours.
The AESA radar, which Lockheed developers say can track up to 20-targets at one time, is a massive upgrade beyond the F-16s previous mechanically-scanned radar. By virtue of its ability to track multiple targets, the AESA radar can scan in a 360-degree sphere to include horizontal, vertical and diagonal vectors.
Modernized Cockpit Avionics
Not surprisingly, the F-16 has also in recent years received new cockpit avionics to include moving map displays, video in the cockpit. digital graphics screens and new target tracking systems.
