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F-16E United Arab Emirates

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General Dynamics F-16E United Arab Emirates

F-16E/F
Main article: F-16 Fighting Falcon variants#F-16E/F
A United Arab Emirates Air Force F-16E Block 60 taking off after taxiing out of the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas (adjacent to NAS Fort Worth JRB).

The F-16E (single seat) and F-16F (two seat) are the latest version of the F-16. They do not exist in the USAF inventory and are currently an export variant only. Originally, the single-seat version of the General Dynamics F-16XL was to have been designated F-16E, with the twin-seat variant designated F-16F. This was sidelined by the Air Force's selection of the competing F-15E Strike Eagle in the Enhanced Tactical Fighter fly-off in 1984. The 'Block 60' designation had also previously been set aside in 1989 for the A-16, but this model was also dropped.[128] The F-16E/F designation now belongs to a special version developed especially for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is sometimes unofficially called the "Desert Falcon".

Block 60 is based on the F-16C/D Block 50/52. It features improved radar, avionics and conformal fuel tanks; it has only been sold to the United Arab Emirates. At one time, this version was incorrectly thought to have been designated "F-16U". A major difference from previous blocks is the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-80 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which gives the airplane the capability to simultaneously track and destroy ground and air threats. The Block 60's General Electric F110-GE-132 engine is a development of the -129 model and is rated at 32,500 lbf (144 kN). The Block 60 allows the carriage of all Block 50/52-compatible weaponry as well as AIM-132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) and the AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM). The CFTs provide an additional 450 US gallon (2,045 L) of fuel, allowing increased range or time on station and frees up hardpoints for weapons instead of underwing fuel tanks. The MIL-STD-1553 data bus is replaced by MIL-STD-1773 fiber-optic data bus which offers a 1000 times increase in data-handling capability. UAE funded the entire $3 billion Block 60 development costs, and in exchange will receive royalties if any of the Block 60 aircraft are sold to other nations. A press report stated that this is "the first time the US has sold a better aircraft[F-16] overseas than its own forces fly".

Specifications (F-16C Block 60)

General characteristics

* Crew: 1
* Length: 49 ft 5 in (14.8 m)
* Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.8 m)
* Height: 16 ft (4.8 m)
* Wing area: 300 ft² (27.87 m²;)
* Airfoil: NACA 64A204 root and tip
* Empty weight: 18,900 lb (8,670 kg)
* Loaded weight: 26,500 lb (12,000 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,200 kg)
* Powerplant: 1× F110-GE-100 afterburning turbofan
o Dry thrust: 17,155 lbf (76.3 kN)
o Thrust with afterburner: 28,600 lbf (128.9 kN)

Performance

* Maximum speed:
o At sea level: Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,470 km/h)
o At altitude: Mach 2+ (1,500 mph, 2,414 km/h)
* Combat radius: 340 mi (295 nm, 550 km) on a hi-lo-hi mission with six 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
* Ferry range: 2,280 NM (2,620 mi, 4,220 km) with drop tanks
* Service ceiling: 60,000+ ft (18,000+ m)
* Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
* Wing loading: approx 40 lb/ft²[141] (430 kg/m²;)
* Thrust/weight: 1.095

M61A1 on display.

Armament

* Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan gatling gun, 511 rounds
* Hardpoints: 2× wing-tip Air-to-air missile launch rails, 6× under-wing & 3× under-fuselage pylon stations holding up to 17,000 lb (7,700 kg) of payload
* Rockets:
o 4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× /7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively) or
o 4× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets) or
o 4× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× Zuni 127 mm rockets)
* Missiles:
o Air-to-air missiles:
+ 2× AIM-7 Sparrow or
+ 6× AIM-9 Sidewinder or
+ 6× IRIS-T or
+ 6× AIM-120 AMRAAM or
+ 6× Python-4
o Air-to-ground missiles:
+ 6× AGM-45 Shrike or
+ 6× AGM-65 Maverick or
+ 4× AGM-88 HARM
o Anti-ship missiles:
+ 2× AGM-84 Harpoon or
+ 4× AGM-119 Penguin
* Bombs:
o 2× CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
o 2× CBU-89 Gator mine
o 2× CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon
o Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser capable
o 4× GBU-10 Paveway II
o 6× GBU-12 Paveway II
o 6× Paveway-series laser-guided bombs
o 4× JDAM
o 4× Mark 84 general-purpose bombs
o 8× Mark 83 GP bombs
o 12× Mark 82 GP bombs
o B61 nuclear bomb
* Others:
o SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or
o AN/ALQ-131 & AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
o LANTIRN, Lockheed Martin Sniper XR & LITENING targeting pods or
o up to 3× 300/330/370 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time.

Avionics

* AN/APG-68 radar
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Comments5
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TheFlarbar's avatar
What are those bulges on its sides?