The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a 4th generation multirole fighter aircraft that has been in service since 1978.
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Photo – reuters.com
As NBN reports with reference to The National Interest, the said aircraft are now actually operating at the limits of their technical capabilities, which, judging by everything, means the end 40-year “F-16 era”.
The Pentagon intends to extend the service life of fighters until 2040, but such a move will exceed the initial design estimates. This decision is likely due to a number of technical difficulties and high costs of operating 5th generation F-35 and F-22 fighters.
It is assumed that the US Air Force will modernize the on-board electronics of the F-16 Block 40 and Block 50 fighters, while simultaneously extending the airframe service life from 8,000 to 12,000 flight hours. However, such improvements, according to experts, will clearly not be enough: the F-16 is already having difficulty competing with 5th generation combat aircraft and “bypassing” modern air defense systems.
Earlier, our information portal wrote about the media learning the probable cause of the F-16 fighter crash in Ukraine on August 26.