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Showing posts with label F-16. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F-16. Show all posts

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

F-16 Cockpit

The F-16 cockpit is your home and office in Falcon 4. In order to be an effective pilot, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the general layout of the cockpit, and to learn what each switch and dial does. The majority of the cockpit is realistically modeled in Falcon 4, which makes it easy for new pilots to be overwhelmed. This page is intended to familiarize the new pilot with the cockpit, and to serve as a guide for further study. It will act as a "master iPage" weight loss pills containing links to other pages about specific pencil skirt instruments and portions of the panel.



F-16 Cockpit Layout

This diagram displays the general layout of the F-16 cockpit. The general layout is often divided into five areas - the front panel, the left and right forward consoles, and the left and right side consoles. The front panel is reserved for the most important phentermine forums community and flight information, as well as the up-front controls (including the ICP and DED). The forward consoles contain other important gauges (including engine instruments and warning lights), as well as cockpit controls which the pilot needs to use often during flight, such as countermeasure controls and the landing gear lever. The side consoles contain controls phentermine which the pilot needs access to but which are not generally used luxury hotels much in-flight.
The consoles are divided into "panels" - each panel usually deals with one particular system or group of systems, and contains a group of related controls which pertain to that system. For example, the HUD panel on the right console contains a group of switches which lose weight fast all affect the data displayed on the weight loss pills moving storage Head-Up Display

Friday, 28 September 2012

Romania To Buy 12 Second-Hand F-16 Jet Fighter Aircraft From Portugal

  Romania plans to procure 12 used F-16 jet fighter aircraft from Portugal in a five year contract worth $600 million.

      Corneliu Dobritoiu, Romanian Defense Minister, said, “We shall come up with a decision draft within CSAT. We are competing, with the Bulgarians. Referring to the acquisition, I assure you, all Romania's citizens and the EU partners included, that Romania observes absolutely all EU directives for this acquisition, to the letter”.

      The European Commission has demanded that the aircraft be bought within an intergovernmental agreement with the military technique in use.

      Earlier in August, Dobritoiu said that Romania could buy F-16s from Portugal after experts evaluated their technical state. The aircraft were found to be in “a very good” condition.



      The aircraft will be presented after the pilots’ training is over in 2016.

Sunday, 2 September 2012

Boeing Sees Promise in F-16-to-Drone Conversion Market

Boeing sees its work turning F-16 fighters into pilotless target drones as an avenue to boost its presence in the United States and international Falcon support and upgrade market.
Company officials see global F-16 upgrades being a billion-dollar business, particularly as the U.S. Air Force prepares to extend the life and upgrade more than 300 jets in the coming years.
The move shows one way the company is looking to diversify their support business beyond Boeing-built aircraft, particularly as military budgets shrink and fewer fighter procurement programs are on the horizon.
“We’re taking a look at the install base of airplanes that are out there,” Tony Parasida, the president of Boeing’s Global Services and Support business, said during an Aug. 29 meeting with reporters in St. Louis.
The F-16, which was built by General Dynamics and now Lockheed Martin, is at the forefront of planes Boeing wants to support. Boeing officials say the company’s recent work modifying F-16s into pilotless flying targets helps position it well for other types of work on the aircraft.

“We are confident with our experience on these aircraft, with all the different configurations we’ve gone through, that obviously our capability today [to perform work on the F-16] is considerably greater than it was a couple of years ago,” Torbjorn Sjogren, vice president of global maintenance and upgrades, said during an Aug. 31 briefing with reporters here.
Boeing held a ceremony at its facility in Cecil Field in Jacksonville this week to celebrate a number of QF-16 program milestones. To make the F-16 unmanned, Boeing installs new electronic control equipment on the aircraft, which had been retired from active service. BAE Systems also works on the program.
“The elbow grease is actually going on on the engineering side,” Sjogren said. “The engineering piece of this is very, very rich [and] very extensive.”
Six QF-16s, part of a pre-engineering and manufacturing development program, are of various configurations, meaning the modifications to make the aircraft pilotless might be different.
The Air Force currently flies unmanned F-4 Phantoms as full-scale aerial targets. The newer QF-16 will better replicate modern day threats. The QF-16s will use the existing ground systems used by the QF-4 targets.
Boeing is using backscatter X-ray technology to assess each aircraft.
The company plans to deliver the six QF-16s to Tyndall Air Force Base on Florida’s panhandle by the end of the year.
The aircraft, which have been in flight testing since June, have yet to fly without a pilot. Testers are getting “awfully close” to remote-controlled operations, Sjogren said.
Boeing officials say the company is growing its capabilities to support non-Boeing aircraft.
The U.S. military plan to purchase 2,443 Lockheed F-35 Joint Strike Fighters — which will replace the F-16 and other military aircraft — however that program has experienced years of delays due to development issues, prompting the Air Force to upgrade and extend the lives of its F-16s.
“If we can provide an affordable life-extension program, and increase in some cases the missions of an aircraft, clearly that is an attractive option,” Sjogren said. “We are able on a number of platforms to do that. Our latest efforts on the QF-16 clearly provide us a platform with which to go broader.”
More than 4,500 F-16s have been built since the 1970s and more than 20 countries fly the aircraft.
“The largest install base of airplanes out there in the world is F-16s,” Parasida said. “We’re really thinking hard about F-16 support. Now that we’ve done a fair amount on the QF-16, we’re learning our way here. There are going to be [service life extension program] opportunities and mission systems upgrades opportunities around the world.”
Boeing already supports and upgrades several aircraft it did not build, including the C-130 cargo plane and A-10 attack jet.
“We’ve had a lot of lessons learned,” Parasida said. “Some of them have been really good lessons learned, some of them have been working through challenges.”
Boeing is the largest shareholder of the Saudi Arabian-based Alsalam Aircraft Co., which already does maintenance and repair work on C-130s.
In the United States, the company has installed new cockpits on legacy Lockheed C-130s. It also performs upgrades on the Fairchild Republic A-10 and holds a $2 billion contract to replace wings on 242 aircraft. Boeing also supports the T-38 jet trainer.
But Boeing’s performance on these programs has been mixed. On both the C-130 cockpit upgrade and A-10 wing programs, unforeseen problems led to schedule delays, however over time, performance improved.
The first rewinged A-10 flew for the first time in November 2011, nearly a year behind schedule.
The company, which has partnered on the effort with Korean Aerospace Industries, now delivers about two wings per month and is back on track, Sjogren said “We’re getting really up on rate in terms of our production,” he said. “We did have challenges. We are now ahead of schedule.”
Boeing had trouble with the first set of wings, which Sjogren called a “pretty challenging effort.”
Boeing provided transportation for reporters to Jacksonville and St. Louis.

Friday, 31 August 2012

USAF details F-16 life extension programme

The US Air Force is hoping to upgrade some 300 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds as a stopgap measure until the Lockheed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter comes online.
The aircraft, which are drawn from the USAF's fleet of Block 40, 42, 50 and 52 machines, will undergo a structural service life extension programme (SLEP) and a combat avionics programmed extension suite (CAPES) upgrade. The modifications will greatly boost the venerable warplane's capabilities.
"It provides a very significant capability to the F-16 platform that puts it on par, I do believe, with some of the other platforms that have AESA [active electronically scanned array radars] today," says Col Mark Mol, programme manager at the USAF's F-16 System Programme Office at Hill AFB, Utah.
The CAPES programme involves both hardware and software modifications, Mol says. The F-16 will receive a new AESA radar, a new Terma ALQ-213 electronic warfare system, an integrated broadcast system (IBS) and a center display unit (CDU). There will also be a new operational flight programme to tie those new systems together with the aircraft's existing avionics. The software will be one of the biggest challenges, Mol says.
The USAF will buy 300 new AESA radars as part of the upgrade, but the service has not yet determined if it will buy the Northrop Grumman Scalable Agile Beam Radar or Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar. The
USAF will be holding a competition in the near future to select which vendor it will pick, Mol says.
The addition of an automated ALQ-213 electronic warfare suite should greatly reduce the pilots' work load. The system does not necessarily boost the jet's hardware capability, but it offers a vastly superior man-machine interface. "It is a performance enhancement in the sense that it provides that computer automation and control of the system," Mol says. "It's more responsive to threats."
The IBS introduces a level of information fusion to the F-16 cockpit. The system gathers and correlates data from off-board data-links such as Link-16 with information from the jet's own sensors such as the radar and then presents that picture in a single coherent display. It will increase the detail in which threats can be examined and it will also display the disposition of friendly forces. "It takes a number of sensors and provides integrated situational awareness," Mol says. "That information will also be displayed on the CDU."
The addition of the CDU will enable pilots to better exploit the aircraft's new sensor suite. The new high resolution screen can display synthetic aperture radar maps, IBS tracks, target pod video and other stored data, Mol says. It will also be qualified as a primary flight reference, which will enable the USAF to eliminate some of the F-16's older mechanical gauges. The CDU is already flying on older F-16s currently in service with the Air National Guard, Mol adds.
The F-16 was designed with a structural life of 8,000h. The SLEP should increase that to between 10,000h and 12,000h. The USAF and Lockheed are undergoing a "full-scale durability test" with an instrumented F-16 airframe to determine exactly how much life can be squeezed out of the jet. The SLEP modifications will be designed based on the results of those tests, Mol says. But not all of the aircraft will need structural modifications. "We may not need to SLEP all the aircraft, just do the remaining life on them," Mol says.
The USAF has chosen Lockheed has the prime contractor for the F-16 upgrade. While the company is currently working under a study contract, the service plans to award Lockheed a sole-source prime integration contract in the near future, Mol says. "The acquisition strategy for the sole source contract has already been determined."
The first kits are scheduled to be procured in fiscal year 2017 with installations starting in FY2018. But before the USAF begins retrofitting its F-16s, the new upgrades will have to undergo developmental and operational testing. The kit will enter ground testing in a software integration lab from around 2014 to 2015. If that proves to be successful, the upgrades will enter developmental flight testing in 2016 and enter production a year later.
The F-16 life extension programme is designed to be a gap-filler until the USAF can procure enough F-35 stealth fighters. "We estimate that to be a 15 year extension to the viability of the F-16 platform," Mol says.


Monday, 20 August 2012

Egypt to Spend up to $3.2B Adding to F-16C/D Fleet


The Egyptian government wants to buy another 24 F-16C/D Block 50/52 aircraft, associated parts, weapons, and equipment to modernize its air force. The October 2009 request, made through the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress, could be worth as much as $3.2 billion to Lockheed Martin and the other contractors involved. The formal request came a few months after the Obama administration conveyed its support for Egypt’s long-standing request to buy the Block 50/52 aircraft.

The Egyptian Air Force is the 4th largest F-16 operator in the world, mustering about 195 F-16s of 220 ordered. Their overall fighter fleet is a mix of high-end F-16s and Mirage 2000s, low-end Chinese F-7s (MiG-21 copy) bought from the Chinese, a few F-4 Phantom II jets, and upgraded but very aged Soviet MiG-21s and French Mirage 5s:
Asian Defence News

Saturday, 18 August 2012

U.S. Offers Grants Additional F-16 Aircraft


If the grant is targeted to form three skadron the F-16, then with 10 F-16 aircraft currently to 24 aircraft owned plus grants that have been agreed then there is still a shortage of 14 aircraft. That's a total of 14 aircraft, which is expected in addition offer the following grants from the U.S



Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said his return spell grants the U.S. F-16 combat aircraft currently Associate Sekjen Ministry of Defence Marshal TNI Eris Herryanto visit to the country last week.

"They (the U.S.) grant another positive to add," said Menhan to journalists at Kemhan Office, Jakarta, Wednesday.

Shipping 24 F-16 aircraft that was previously outworn planned to hibah to Indonesia, until now no terealisasikan.

Purnomo said the U.S. government's bid to be heard again. If approved, it will be very influential on aerospace power increase as the number of combat skadron TNI Air Force can take up to three times more than the present.

"Grants will accelerate the achievement of minimum principal strength program (minimum essential force / MEF) TNI," he said.

He admitted he did not worry about the possibility of the occurrence of an obstacle in the process of realization is made ​​possible because of the political situation in the United States changed, if President Barack Obama failed to select the next election because the plan was by agreement grants the local parliament.

At the same place, the General Secretary Prof. Marshal TNI Kemhan Herryanto Eris does not explain in detail how the amount of aircraft that will hibah back to America, yet hibah the aircraft will have the same specifications with 24 units of F-16 comes first hibah.

The F-16 will be in the 'up grade' ability to be equivalent to the F-16 combat aircraft Block 52. With up grade, then the aircraft will be able to fly in a span of around 15-20 years.

Chance to 2014 will have around 45 defense equipment moves, including combat or transport aircraft, which arrived in Indonesia.

Corresponding increase in the amount of fighter and transport aircraft which will be owned by the TNI Air Force, Assistant Chief of Staff of the Air Force Logistics Marsda TNI Java Festival Production Sitompul say, TNI AU is doing recruitment flyer every year around 30 people.

"With the recruitment of running, the predicted increase in scores will still be able to manned aircraft," he said.

F-16 fleet will soon again 54 aircraft operational


 Thursday afternoon, a Belgian F-16 crashed near the airbase Kleine-Brogel in Limburg after a collision with a bird. This incident did not disrupt overseas extent the organization of the army air unit so far since "cocooning" is coming to replace it. This was said Major General Claude Van De Voorde Friday.

    The fleet of F-16 of the Belgian army no longer than 53 aircraft on Friday after the plane crash yesterday.

    Ten collisions with birds (bird strike) are identified each year by the Belgian army, usually without gravity.


    The Belgian army is able to manage this kind of accident thanks to its system of "cocooning". It has indeed six aircraft on standby, three located at the base of Florennes, three Kleine-Brogel. After 30 days of inspection and maintenance, these devices are in good standing and can go into operation as well as other aircraft. This device has been implemented in the mid-90s to ensure good permanent fleet.
Asian Defence News

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Taiwan Seeking Fewer F-16s From U.S


Taiwan plans to slash the number of advanced fighter jets it has been seeking from the U.S. from 66 to 24, apparently due to budget constraints, reports said Aug. 13.
Taipei applied in 2007 to buy 66 F-16 C/D fighters, which have better radar and more powerful weapons systems than its current F-16 A/Bs, in response to China’s perceived military threat.
Washington in September last year said it had agreed to upgrade Taiwan’s F-16 A/B fleet in a $5.85 billion deal, but it held off on the sale of new jets.
President Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly urged Washington to reconsider selling new jets to Taiwan.
Local media reported Aug. 13 that Taiwan had renewed the call during the just-concluded “Monterey talks” in the U.S., the highest-level annual meeting between U.S. and Taiwanese military officers.
“But the number of desired F-16 C/Ds has fallen to 24, down from 66 when the Taiwanese delegates put forth the proposal,” the Taipei-based China Times quoted an “authoritative military source” as saying.
The defense ministry dismissed the report. The Liberty Times, another Chinese-language broadsheet, ran a similar story.

The Liberty Times quoted its source as saying the military could hardly afford another fleet of 66 F-16 C/Ds following the costly F-16 A/B upgrade plan.
But legislator Lin Yu-fang from the ruling Kuomintang party told the China Times that military authorities might have cut their demands to leave the door open to buying more advanced F-35s in the future.
Although the upgrade package was less than Taiwan had hoped for, it triggered an angry response from China, which warned that Sino-U.S. military ties would be hurt as a result.
Taiwan has ruled itself since 1949, but China still considers the island part of its territory and has repeatedly threatened to invade should Taipei declare formal independence.
The Chinese military is gaining a decisive edge over Taiwan, but U.S. arms sales to the island make China’s superiority less crushing than it otherwise would be.
Asian Defence News

Monday, 23 July 2012

U.S. F-16 Fighter Crashes in Pacific near Kuril Islands





A U.S. F-16 Falcon fighter crashed on Sunday into the Pacific Ocean near Russia’s Kuril Islands, a spokesman for the Russian Border Guard Service in the Far East said.
“The Kamchatsky territorial naval rescue center reported at 8:30 p.m. local time [8:30 a.m. GMT] that an aircraft was in distress over the Pacific Ocean near northern Kurils,” the spokesman said.
It turned out later, he said, that the aircraft was a U.S. Air Force F-16 Falcon fighter.
“The pilot ejected before the crash and was later rescued by a Japanese vessel, the Hokko Maru,” he added.

F-16.net website reported that the jet belonged to the 35th Fighter Wing and was en route from Misawa air base in Japan to Alaska, when it crashed some 200 miles North-East of Japan’s Hokkaido.

Asian Defence News

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Taiwan signs F-16 A/Bs upgrade deal with U.S

Taiwan has recently signed a proposal by the United States to retrofit the country's aging F-16 A/B jet fighters to seal the arms sales deal, Taiwan's Air Force said Monday.
"It (the letter of acceptance) has been signed," Lt. Gen. Wu Wan-chiao, director of Air Force Command's Department of Political Warfare, told CNA in a telephone interview.
"The United States will now begin selecting the contractor (of the upgrade program)," Wu said.
The proposal, sent to Taipei by Washington in early May, contained listed prices totaling some US$3.8 billion that were in line with the budget approved by Taiwan's Cabinet, military officials have said.

Included in the retrofit of Taiwan's A/B fighters is the installation of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. Equipping the fighters with AESA radar is a new initiative, officials said.
Other items on the list include AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits, according to the officials.
The proposal came after the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama last September approved the sale of a retrofit and training package for the F-16 A/Bs instead of offering Taiwan the F-16 C/D fighters it had long wanted.
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