Maquette à monter – F-16C FIGHTING FALCON « THUNDERBIRDS 2010 – Hasegawa Hobby kits 1/48 (LIKE NEW - INSIDE NON OPENED)

The General Dynamics F16 Falcon is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role American fighter and attack aircraft. Work on the F-16 project began in 1971 within General Dynamics (which became part of Lockheed Martin in 1993), competing for a lightweight multi-role fighter (LWF) for the US Air Force. The YF-16 prototype first flew on February 2, 1974. A technical breakthrough was the use of a computerised fly-by-wire control system, which allowed for reduced wing and tail surfaces, thereby reducing the overall weight of the aircraft. The F-16 was the first fighter in the world to use such a system. The early versions were largely made of aluminium alloys (about 83% of the total structure), but over time these gave way to composites. Various versions of the F-16 are powered by three engines: Pratt-Whitney F-100-PW-200, General Electric F110-GE100, and Pratt-Whitney F-100-PW-2020. The ‘brain’ of the guidance system was the APG-66 radar, later replaced by the APG-68 (V) radar. 

It is noteworthy that the design of the YF-16 proved so successful that it not only won the LWF competition in the United States (competing with the Northrop YF-17 aircraft), but also the ‘contract of the century’ for a multi-role fighter for European NATO countries. Its rivals were the Dassault Mirage F.1 and SAAB J-37 Viggen. Serial production of the F-16 began in 1975. It was also followed by European NATO countries for whom it provided an injection of new aviation technologies. Final assembly was carried out in the United States, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The first production F-16A Fighting Falcon flew on August 7, 1978. This is an attack version of the F-16, primarily intended to counter ground targets. The F-16 also proved itself in combat, with a series of air victories in the Lebanon War (1982) and during Operation Desert Storm (1991). 

By the end of the 20th century, over 4,000 of these successful aircraft had been produced. There were six basic versions of the F-16, marked A, C, E (single seat) and B, D, F (two seats). Based on these six models, numerous upgrades were created, most often associated with the replacement of avionics, marked as ‘Block’. Since 2006, the F-16 has also served in the Polish Air Force. The Polish Ministry of Defence decided that the F-16 would be the backbone of the modernised air force, rejecting offers from Dassault and SAAB, although in this case the competitors were the mirage F2000 and JAS-39 Gripen fighters. Undoubtedly, the highest sum proposed by the American company in the so-called offset operation played a significant role in this decision.

Source: super-hobby