F-16/79

F-16/79 
FX Export Fighter
In February of 1977, in a good definition. The most effective president Jimmy Carter announced a new policy on transfer of arms in an attempt to reduce the spread of weapons around the world. Under this policy, American manufacturers can not sell to the Air Force combat aircraft of any foreign equivalent of those in the U.S. inventory.


There is an important exception to this rule as well. The use of four NATO F - 16 as a special exception, the people of Israel. Exceptions were made for the delivery of weapons to Iran so that Iran was continuing to act as a bastion against Soviet expansion in the Persian Gulf region.
South Korea's first request for the F - 16s was turned down under the new rules. It was approved after a dry environment for the Pro in the process of withdrawing U.S. troops from Korea. However, countries such as Jordan, Taiwan, and Venezuela have been denied access to the F - 16 to meet for 'embargoed' air forces, the FX Fighter export demand for aircraft has been satisfied the following criteria.

    The performance and capabilities should be between those of F - 5E and F - 16A.
    Multirole design (but tailored to the air - to - air), and the ability to limit the intentional strike.
    The performance of the payload / range will be much lower than that of the contemporary struggles in the U.S. inventory.
    Deployment and maintenance will be easier.
The design must be such as TAT, it does not move easily without help or permission of the U.S. DOD with intent to sponsor the development of programs that are not so dependent on the transmission Fighter FX. It's all in the financial risk.
New engine and modify the structure.
Due to high financial risk associated with FX, the only two proposals were sent in: Northrop F-5G/F-20 enter the General Dynamics General Electric joint venture for the production is exported. less than the capacity of the Fighting Falcon, driven by a derivative of the J79 turbojet ° shaft, this project was announced in November of 1979 by General Dynamics.
The J79 produced in the state came to an end in 1979 (13,686 engines built) and the manufacturing license in Japan and in the following year. (While the production in Israel is still ongoing for the Kfir) engine, GE is the clear choice for Combat power, low cost, easy to maintain the output power of the B - 58 Hustler, F - 104 Starfighter and the F - 4 Phantom, the latter two are already in widespread service with large number of foreign air arms.

    J79 detail.
    Compressor: 17 stage six stages of variable stators and variable vanes Inlet.
    Turbine: 3 stage.
    Kiln type: Cannular, 10 burners.
GE has made some changes to the original design and customize it for use in F-16/79 J79 - GE - 17X is obvious that the shape of the engine must be changed to fit in the F -. Engine 16s Bay, there are also new features added to the fighting engine called Plus. (Originally intended to enhance the performance of the F - 4) on the participation by pilots: the struggle to increase the flow of fuel to the engine while in the mean time a little bit off the head of the engine. This results in a net increase of exhaust gas temperature by 100 ° F (56 ° C) to produce a useful amount of extra thrust.

Despite the struggle Plus, the performance of this new version of J79 is significantly less than the F100 and the struggle Plus may be used only for short periods of time when the operating conditions specific to the engine is. Working in full AB, compressor inlet temperature should not exceed 15 ° F (-9 ° C), and certain combinations of high / low quality will result in excessive internal pressure build up. (Due to the high air flow) and will put a strain high in the engine casing. Plus it fits in the fight against the Israeli Kfir C - 7 aircraft which is powered by a J79 variant.
The main drawback of the uprated J79 - GE - 17X, but their military power, fuel consumption is far higher than the F100 is not as important as the demand for a range of FX to inhibit the export of war. (The ability to strike a limited number of) to modify some of the engine is mated to a gearbox attached to the fuselage of the F - 16, a driving generator and hydraulic pump. This problem was solved by increasing the transfer speed to the powerplant.

The three development tools were created to be used for the first 60 hours of initial flight-test scores for the five hour operation under simulated conditions of Mach 2.0, the two men were to GD,. One of them was installed as the J79 - GE - 119 in number F - 16B # 75-0752 (acquired in the United States Air Force in June 1980), one of the original FSD F - 16B aircraft.
Since the J79 engine, the airflow is less than the F100 turbofan used in the production of all F - 16A / B of the shape of the volume of air that has changed. Only external difference between the amount of modular design (and easily) and the new one is on the upper surface that extends the length of the intake side to make the recognition of the obvious. As the J79 engine is a 18-inch (46 cm) longer than the F100, the rear fuselage had to be extended.
To limit the required changes to a minimum in front of the compressor of the engine is almost the exact same position as the F100 fuselageby 18 inches in the length of the end of the pivot point stabilator.
The nutrient content of the new ramp set up at the roof of the compression, and because they run much hotter than the J79 turbojet F100, the bypass valve was added to supply the engine bay with the flow of cold air. As a precautionary measure to increase the heat shield of steel weighing in at nearly £ 2000 (900kg) has to be installed around most of the length of the new engine. The aircraft came to be known as F-16/79.
It is predicted that there would be F-16/79 unit cost of a million dollars less than the standard F - 16A, the unit flyaway cost was about $ 8,000,000 in 1980 for a total project cost. (Testing, development, construction and flight) is split between GD and GE, and amounted to approximately $ 18 million.Pilot and flight testing.
Minimal modifications necessary to convert the F - 16A F-16/79 to ensure ease of assembly to be installed on the production line in Fort Worth, and there is no test for fatigue. The new structure is correct. These factors result in the rapid success of the conversion and F-16/79 first flight on October 29, 1980 with company test pilot James A. McKinney, the control
J79 powered F - 16 was first presented to Venezuela as a representative of the F - 16A / B of the same order. Evaluation team from Venezuela in February 1981 were considered flies F-16/79 by up to 20 other air arms, and a lecture on the F16/79 are Austria, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan. Thailand
By June of the following year, a total of 122 hours spread over 131 flights to be accumulated and F-16/79 has proven to be an actor as to achieve a top speed of Mach 2.0, the highest elevation of the foot. 50k shows the tournament and after 9 months of testing, 9g total of 28 aircraft, the pilot evaluation of future trends and look F-16/79 look even better when the policy of official DOD information. with exports Fighter FX is spelled out in a letter from Deputy Secretary of Defense, Air Force Secretary Verne Orr to Carlucci and Navy Secretary John Lehman.
"There are many friends and allies that are now or soon will be involved in the process of its tactical air forces by their Only a few can afford the first-line fighter, and because of fiscal constraints, and so it is important. United States, there is an alternative to existing front-line aircraft for export. (...) The alternative is to FX as a stand-alone or as components of a Lo / Hi. It is clearly in the interest of U.S. national security purposes. Our friends and allies with the system to remain a military capability in the late 1980's and 1990's. (...) This is why we must choose. It actively promotes the procurement of foreign FX does not get out of this. A marketing effort for the manufacturer. If possible and appropriate agencies to encourage representatives of foreign governments and the establishment of protection, including the exchange of its aircraft modernization plan. ".
However, most of the weapons are less than enthusiastic about F-16/79 F-16/79 less effective than the standard F - 16A / B is not only heavy but also significantly due to the heat shield on it. be implemented. This makes the performance of F-16/79 significantly inferior to that of the F - 16A / B.
F-16/79 be attractive to other air weapons only as long as the political capital to prevent them from purchasing F100 - for F - 16A / B in 1980, President Carter's relaxed policy. and allow the delivery of some export F-16A/Bs to continue and the election of President Ronald Reagan later that year to ensure that international customers often have to buy the F - 16A / B. No, they can come up with cash so F-16/79s not be sold.Spec.
Engine: One turbojet General Electric J79 - GE - 17X, £ 18,000, with afterburning.
Maximum speed: Mach 2.0 at 40,000 feet.
Dimensions: wingspan 32 feet 8 inches, length 49 feet 5 inches, height 16 feet 4 inches wing area 300 square feet.
Weight: £ 17,042 £ 25,646 gross empty 37,500 £ runner up.