Paul Lewis/FORT WORTH
When the "fighter mafia" led by former General Dynamics project engineer Harry Hillaker first devised the concept of a lightweight fighter in the mid-1960s, it marked the genesis of one of the most prolific combat aircraft designs of the post-war era. Now, 26 years after the first flight of the YF-16 prototype and more than 4,000 aircraft later, Lockheed Martin has embarked on a host of new developments that will ensure the Fighting Falcon remains a formidable bird of prey well into the 21st century.
No fewer than 12 major block derivatives and 112 individual versions of the fighter have been produced since the first F-16A Block 1 was delivered to the US Air Force in January 1979. The design has evolved from its humble origins as a low-cost day fighter into an all-weather, two-seat, multi-role platform. This is being further refined in the guise of the Advanced F-16 Block 50plus and Block 60.
The F-16, in many respects, was as radical a departure from the accepted wisdom of the day as the Joint Strike Fighter promises to be tomorrow. Hillaker was the first to adopt fly-by-wire controls and a blended wing-body design to produce a single-engined fighter that combined long range with agile manoeuvrability by minimising drag and weight for optimum thrust - and all at reduced cost. This has proved an unbeatable building block.
"When the GD 'fighter mafia' and the USAF designed this aircraft around a great aerodynamic performance, we got a little bit lucky with the miniaturisation of computers, advanced data rates and rapidly advancing engine technology," says George Standridge, director of marketing for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. "What you have 25 years later is an aircraft that looks like an F-16 on the outside, but is essentially completely changed from the initial block."
This has proved an indispensable quality for ensuring the F-16 keeps abreast of newer competitors such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale. Testament to its success has been the flurry of new orders from Greece, Israel and the United Arab Emirates over the past 12 months, totalling 210 new aircraft.
Sensor enhancements
This has not only revitalised production at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility, which now extends to mid-2006 - or 2008 if Israel decides to firm up its 60 F-16I options - but has also kicked-started major sensor, avionics and powerplant improvements.
The UAE's long-awaited order for 80 F-16C/D Block 60 fighters will produce more than $1 billion worth of sensor enhancements, for which Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensor and Systems Sector (ESSS) is the major beneficiary. New developments include an agile beam radar (ABR), integrated electronic warfare system (IEWS) and internal forward- looking infrared and targeting system (IFTS).
Few details have been released about the performance of the active electronically scanned array other than it promises twice the reliability and a significant jump in detection range over the F-16C/D's mechanically scanned ESSS APG-68 radar. New capabilities will include simultaneous track-while-scan in the air-to-air mode and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mode for air-to-ground targeting and terrain following.
The IEWS will incorporate an active jammer and passive receiver capable of adapting to and meeting a wide band of radar threats. The system has proved so technically sensitive that the UAE's demands for source code access frustrated finalisation of the UAE deal by almost two years. The new mid-wave IFTS, mounted inside the Block 60's nose, will remove the need for drag-inducing external targeting and navigation pods such as the Lockheed MartinAAQ-13/14 LANTIRN system.
While the Block 60 is UAE-specific, associated technology is now being cross-fed to other Advanced F-16 derivatives. The newly launched APG-68(V)XM radar draws on some of the ABR's "back end" computer and processor components to extend range and add SAR capability. The first application will be on Israel's and Greece's new Block 50plus fighters from 2002, but the radar is also intended as a retrofit item.
"The Greeks wanted some more air-to-air range capability and the Israelis wanted some SAR capability," says Bill McHenry, director of international marketing for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. "What we did is leverage the investment across both to produce a non-recurring and recurring cost saving. They get both capabilities at a lower cost than if they had done their own stuff."
System of systems
With the addition of the Improved Data Modem (IDM)/Link 16, the F-16 has begun the transition to a "system of systems" environment, in which targeting, navigation and threat data can be exchanged with other off-board users and sensors. The increased volume of situational awareness information has, in turn, required that a greater proportion of the F-16's cockpit "real estate" be given over to additional, larger, glass multi-function displays.
"If we show a picture of the F-16 Advanced Capability cockpit, the F-22 cockpit and what we think the Joint Strike Fighter will look like, they'll be very similar," says Standridge. "These programmes are making technology available that essentially only we have. With fused information, there is no lack of data out there, but the question is, can you use it?"
Lockheed Martin is offering the option of up to three 127 x 178mm (5 x 7in) colour liquid crystal displays (LCDs), each capable of showing up to three separate images or data streams. The two existing Honeywell colour 100 x 100mm LCDs, now a standard feature on new-build F-16 Block 50/52 and Mid Life Update (MLU) standard aircraft, will remain an option. Greece has chosen to stick with the latter for its next buy of 50 Block 50 plus fighters.
The menu of Advanced F-16 cockpit options includes a BAE Systems head-up display (HUD) and integrated up-front controller modified to handle extra data. Situational awareness will be further enhanced with the Vision Systems Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS). This will give F-16 pilots a high-off boresight target acquisition capability once the new Raytheon AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile (AAM) is integrated by 2005.
Vision Systems is a joint venture between Kaiser Aerospace and Elbit System's Fort Worth-based subsidiary, EFW. The Israeli company is already a major equipment vendor, with the latest F-16Is carrying Elbit's improved DASH IV display and sight helmet, central mission computer, display processor and stores management system.
Lockheed Martin has signed an agreement to offer Elbit's equipment to other F-16 operators as part of a wide-ranging series of co-operative tie-ups with Israeli industry. Lockheed Martin Sanders has also signed an accord to market Elisra's F-16I electronic warfare (EW) suite, bringing the number of internal systems on offer to at least four, including the Litton ASPIS selected by Greece and the Northrop Grumman ALQ-165 ordered by South Korea.
A third agreement between Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) covers the marketing and US manufacture of an Elta SAR pod, developed for Israel's own F-16s. The system is housed in an 1,137-litre (300-gallon) centreline tank and gives the Fighting Falcon an all-weather, high-resolution, real-time radar reconnaissance capability.
The company is also marketing the high-off boresight Rafael Python 4 AAM in conjunction with the F-16, both to the US Air National Guard as a stop-gap for the AIM-9X and to new prospective international customers including Chile. Lockheed Martin now boasts an armoury of more than 100 different external store options qualified for the fighter.
"When it arrives on your doorstep, you've a full combat capability, not the promise that something is going to happen in 2008-12," says Standridge. New weapons on the way include the Boeing GBU-31/32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), the Lockheed Martin/IAI Have Lite/Popeye 2, the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM), the CBU-103/4/5 Wind Corrected Weapons Dispenser (WCMD) and the Raytheon AGM-154 Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW).
Incremental increases in the F-16's payload and maximum take-off weight - which now tops 22,700kg (50,000lb) compared with the F-16A's initial 15,000kg - has progressively eaten into the aircraft's operational range. The Block 60 and 50plus try to address this by introducing upper wing/fuselage-mounted conformal fuel tanks (CFT).
The two aerodynamically shaped CFTs will extend the F-16's range to about 1,480km (800nm) without encroaching on the aircraft's nine wing and fuselage weapon hardpoints. The 1,700-litre tanks can be installed or removed in as little as 1h to ensure maximum mission flexibility, says Lockheed Martin.
The introduction of a bigger, 32,000lb (142kN)-thrust powerplant is also a welcome addition for those operating in hot-high conditions and wanting more acceleration. The increased performance engine (IPE), as well as delivering a 34% hike in power over the existing General Electric F110-129 and Pratt & Whitney F100-229 series, will offer improved nozzle durability and an autothrottle capability.
Evolving the lineage
PW and GE are offering competing IPEs, both as an upgrade to existing F-16 Block 50/52 and for new-build aircraft. The UAE has selected the F110-132 for its Block 60, which will incorporate a new blisk fan taken from the F118 engine, a radial afterburner from the F120, and composite outer fan duct based on the F404/414. The Israelis and Greeks have opted to stick with the F100-229, however, with Washington having declined to release the 32,000lb engine to the latter.
The rapid evolution of the F-16 lineage has created a requirement to backfeed some of the newer technology to the 3,000 or so earlier-build fighters still in operation. The biggest upgrade to date is the current mid-life update (MLU) of 380 Belgian, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian and Portuguese F-16A/B Block 10/15 fighters, known collectively as the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF).
"MLU was conceived and implemented to update the early-1980s technology of the European F-16A/Bs," says Chris May, European deputy programme director for Lockheed Martin. "In order to add more capability, the aircraft needed a new set of avionics to support that. MLU provides an ability to grow as new systems come on-line, such as PGMs (precision-guided munitions) and JHMCS."
Essentially, the upgrade provides 95% of the latest F-16C/D Block 50's capability. At its heart is a modular mission computer (MMC), the improved Northrop Grumman APG-66(V)2 radar with Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM datalink, dual colour LCDs, IDM, global positioning system satellite navigation, FLIR-compatible wide-angle HUD, digital terrain profile matching and ring laser gyro inertial navigation system.
MLU, along with new Mil Std 1760 wiring, provides the baseline hardware for a series of rolling incremental software upgrades to expand capability. The next M3 iteration is due to begin fielding as MLU depot-level retrofits wrap up at the end of 2003. It will integrate EPAF with the AIM-9X and BGT IRIS-T short-range AAMs, JDAM, JSOW, JHMCS and WCMD. The next M4 software load, along with a USAF-specific M4plus version, is due to follow in 2005 and will probably include provision for an improved datalink and civil global air traffic management compliance.
"All five European countries are looking at maintaining their F-16s at least through to 2015 before they begin retiring the aircraft and many expect to be flying until at least 2020," says May. The definition of M5/M5plus is expected to start next year in readiness for a projected fielding in 2007/08. "That's where the Block 50plus capability might roll back into both European and USAF F-16s," adds May.
Hardware upgrade
The USAF, in conjunction with M3plus, has embarked on the Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP) hardware upgrade to bring about 700 of its F-16C/D Block 40/42 and early Block 50/52 aircraft, along with all subsequent new-build fighters, into line with MLU. The $1.6 billion update includes the MMC, colour MFDs, common missile warning system, Link 16 and JHMCS, together with AIM-9X and JASSM integration.
MLU outside of the EPAF and the USAF has been made available to other countries and was incorporated into Taiwan's 150 new-build F-16A/B Block 20 fighters. The sale of surplus USAF F-16A/Bs to Jordan, Portugal and Thailand and the offer of refurbished aircraft to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have created further upgrade opportunities.
This potentially large market has attracted the attention of two other seasoned fighter upgrade houses, Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STAero) and IAI teamed with Elbit, both of which Lockheed Martin has endorsed. "We went off and evaluated some strategic partners and selected IAI and STAero to work with and give our customers flexibility," says McHenry.
The Singapore Falcon ONE and Israeli Air Combat Enhancement (ACE) cockpit concepts mirror closely the Advanced F-16, incorporating three 127 x 178mm Astronautics MFDs. STAero has held partnership discussions with BAE Systems, which supplies the digital map display and HUD, and is offering a choice of the APG-66(V)2 or a new derivative of the Fiar Grifo F radar. The latter will have a 76 x 48mm array and a 30% greater detection range, says the Italian company
ACE is based on a host of different Israeli-developed systems that feature in the F-16I, with the addition of the Elta EL/M 2032 multi-mode radar and Elop HUD. STAero is initially targeting Falcon ONE at Singapore's seven original F-16A/B Block 15s, while Israel's 75 Block 10s and 50 ex-USAF aircraft present a potent market for upgrades and export.
The F-16 was originally designed as a Cold War fighter, but its inherent flexibility has served it well across a diverse theatre of operations, be it the skies over Lebanon, the Gulf or the Balkans. Lockheed Martin, together with its customers and industry partners, has drawn extensively on the lessons from these conflicts to ensure the F-16 continues to remains relevant to the air war of today and the future.
Lockheed Martin's McHenry concludes: "The strength of the F-16 is that we have been able to continually grow the aircraft as technology develops and offer the customer the options he wants based on his specific mission requirements. When we deliver the aircraft, it is fully combat ready, with a full weapons suite and a proven record in combat. We don't think there is anyone who can match that."
Source: Flight International
