The F-16 “Fighting Falcon” AKA Viper is one of the great aviation success stories. It’s been a mainstay of air forces around the world for decades.
Brainchild of the legendary Colonel John Boyd, he managed to sneak it through the Air Force acquisition process at a time when the USAF was concentrating on getting the F-15 Eagle into production. A “lightweight fighter”, the F-16 was an airplane the Air Force didn’t want and didn't know it needed — but everything came together in a package that has proved itself over and over again.
It has been 50 years since the first flight of the F-16. The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies has a podcast about the F-16 at 50 featuring people who were instrumental in the development of the aircraft, and can speak to how it evolved from a basic day fighter into a multi-role combat flying machine.
In Episode 167 of the Aerospace Advantage, F-16 at 50: The Origins of the Viper, Mitchell Institute’s John “Slick” Baum hosts a special set of guests to mark the 50th anniversary of the F-16’s first flight. It’s one of the most impactful, widely used combat aircraft in airpower history. Developed in the early 1970s and first flown in 1974, the F-16 began as a relatively basic fighter. Numerous upgrades saw it evolve into an incredibly capable multi-role combat aircraft with powerful sensors, computing capacity, connectivity, a broad array of munitions, and far more thrust. This episode will discuss the origins of the F-16—how and why the requirements were developed, flight test, and early operational experiences.
We’ve got General Mike Loh, who was a young officer just back from flying combat in Vietnam assigned to work with the “father of the F-16”, Col John Boyd, in the Fighter Requirements Directorate in the Pentagon. He later circled back to the program as the project manager for the YF-16 and F-16 at Aeronautical Systems Division. He’s joined by Major General Charlie Lyon, who began his career in the F-16 in the early 1980s, when the jet was brand new and far more basic than anything flying today. He was a FWS Graduate and 422 TES IP and later a Squadron, Group, and Wing Commander. Finally, we’ve got Maj Gen Larry Stutzriem, who transitioned from the F-4 to the F-16 in the mid-1980s. This history really matters and that’s why we’re so excited to share it with you.
The podcast is about an hour long and well worth the listen. It gives details on the horse trading and strategies that got the Air Force to accept the F-16. They managed to include elements in the design like fly by wire, compact electronics, and sensors that made the aircraft into an evolving design that was able to add key capabilities over time. They talk about the early days of the program, the energy of taking this then new plane to the air and finding out what it could do. They have lessons for today. It’s a fascinating tale.
A celebration was held at Edwards Air Force Base to mark the anniversary.
Multiple F-16s Fighting Falcons from units around the nation descended upon Edwards Air Force Base, California to partake in Falcon Rejoin 50, Jan. 25, 2024, in celebration of the F-16's first flight. The event was open to Airmen and base employees and featured aerial demonstrations from the Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demo Team as well as guests speakers from within the test and operational F-16 community.
Here’s a video from the event. Enjoy!
If that’s not enough, here’s 26 minutes of the Thunderbirds at Edwards Air Force Base from May 19, 2023 showing what they can do with the F-16.