General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

F-16 Fighting Falcon
A US Air Force F-16C over Iraq in 2008
Role	Multirole fighter, air superiority fighter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	General Dynamics Lockheed Martin
First flight	20 January 1974; 50 years ago (1974-01-20) (unplanned) 2 February 1974; 50 years ago (1974-02-02) (official)
Introduction	17 August 1978; 46 years ago (1978-08-17)
Status	In service
Primary users	United States Air Force 25 other users
Produced	1973–2017, 2019–present[1]
Number built	4,604 (June 2018)[2][3]
Unit cost	F-16A/B: US$14.6 million (1998) [4] F-16C/D: US$18.8 million (1998)[4]
Developed into	Vought Model 1600 General Dynamics F-16XL Mitsubishi F-2

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a one-engine multirole combat aircraft. It was originally designed and built by General Dynamics, which is now part of Lockheed Martin.^[5][6] The United States Air Force (USAF) ordered the F-16 in 1972. The airplane first flew four years later in 1976. Over 4,600 F-16s have been built since then.^[7] The airplane has been used by more than 25 air forces around the world.^[8] It is also used by the Thunderbirds, the USAF's aerobatics team. As of 2015, there are more F-16s in military use than any other fixed-wing aircraft.^[9]

1. ↑ Weisgerber, Marcus (22 March 2007). "Lockheed to Move F-16 Production to South Carolina". Defense One. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
2. ↑ "How the F-16 fighter jet put Fort Worth on the aerospace map". star-telegram.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
3. ↑ "Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract to Build F-16 Block 70 Aircraft for Bahrain". Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "F-16 Fact Sheet". U.S. Air Force. 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
5. ↑ Rosenwald, Michael S. "Downside of Dominance? Popularity of Lockheed Martin's F-16 Makes Its F-35 Stealth Jet a Tough Sell." Archived 14 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Washington Post, updated 17 December 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
6. ↑ "Company Histories – Lockheed Martin Corporation". Funding universe. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
7. ↑ "Lockheed Martin to deliver 4,500th F-16 fighter". McClatchy DC. 2012-04-02. Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
8. ↑ Stout, Joe and Laurie Quincy. "United States Government Awards Lockheed Martin Contract to Begin Production of Advanced F-16 Aircraft for Morocco." Archived 4 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine Lockheed Martin press release, 8 June 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
9. ↑ "Strength in numbers: The World's Top 10 military aircraft types". Flight global. Reed Business Information. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.