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F16
Fighting Falcon
The F-16 originated
in a set of specifications by the United States
Department of Defense. The deficiencies of
the F-4 Phantom II in aerial combat in the
Vietnam War, particularly at close ranges,
shaped the specifications for the F-15 Eagle.
An informal and influential group nicknamed
the "Fighter Mafia", among them
systems analyst Pierre Sprey, test pilot Charles
E. Meyers, and former instructor pilot John
Boyd, believed the F-15 was a move in the
wrong direction. They argued that the F-15
was too large and expensive. Designed as a
fast interceptor, it had a wide turn radius
and was not well suited to close range dogfighting.
The Fighter Mafia argued for a lighter fighter
with superb maneuverability, that was cheap
enough to deploy in numbers. These specifications
became the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program,
begun in 1971.
The LWF specified a
plane weighing 20,000 pounds (9,000 kg), half
the weight of the F-15, stressing low cost,
small size, range, and emphasising maneuverability
— turn rate and acceleration —
at the expense of top speed. Its ideal operating
environment was intended to be under Mach
1.6 and 40,000 feet (12,000 m). Two companies
were chosen during the concept stage: General
Dynamics with the YF-16 design and Northrop
with a design which bore the name YF-17 Cobra.
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