F-16 Fighting Falcon

No, the claim that the F16 is undefeated is false. The Turks who make the F16 under license got ambitious and tangled with a Greek Mirage 2000 which promptly dropped it like a hot potato. The F16 is a great flyer and has sold well because of the price and the steady supply of parts offered by the United States. But it is not a better aircraft than the Mirage. The Mirage was the first fly by wire aircraft ever produced. It is every bit as capable as the F16 with the sole exception of low level manouvers. In all other aspects the Mirage 2000 meets or exceeds the F16. It is faster, has a little more range, turns tighter at medium and high altitudes, carries smart and dumb weaponry as well as over the horizion fire and forget missiles. Taiwan used one of their Mirages to knock down a drone at close to 78km. So while we are all ga-ga about the F16 let's take into account that they were a cheap/reliable fix for countries that needed an air force. It is a very capable aircraft and from a sale... Read more

Like the F-15 its undefeated in air to air combat. Its a pretty good strike plane to boot...

weeeeeeee f-16!!!!

I agree the F-16 should be given 5 stars. My father flew F-16Cs in the USAF for 8 years and the fact that the Airframe and the Avionics combined with the best Air to Air weapons in the World make it the best Multirole fighter in the world. The GE engine is so powerful the aircraft can actually gain speed in climbs and high G turns. also With the addition of the new helmet HUD sight the aircraft becomes even more lethal

Those giving it anything under a three have to do a little more research. You can't downplay something just because it is old. Would you give the P-51 Mustang a 1? The F-16 is an excellent multirole fighter that can still hold it's own. What makes it such a good fighter? It is a 1/4 the cost of an F-15. It is also fly-by-wire so it can hit 9.0 G's before the flight computer limits it out. Most jet fighters can't hit 8 without bolts falling off. It has an excellent turn radius and a sufficient thrust to weight ratio of 1.01. It also has a close range radar that can pick off anything on its lift vector in a dogfight. I am convinced it could knock any F-15 out of the sky with its agile airframe and equal thrust/weight ratio. As for the Su-27, it would be a close match. Eastern Bloc fighters are usually more agile, but their simple avionics don't compare to that of the Western world.

Good little plane. I have seen it perform pretty well. It's getting a little long in the tooth and I think it should have its role in the airforce re-defined for simpler tasks.

Good aircraft, always did the job. Nevertheless, it is now surpassed by new generations aircrafts and, as a fighter aircraft wouldn't fair well againsts rivals like the Eurofighter Typhoon, or even the Su-27, and needs to be protected by F-15 Eagles when going on missions. Though, it is a good aircraft to deliver bombs to a target. I give it an OK rating overall. The new Israeli version of the F-16 would seem like a bigger treat nowaday and if listed I think would deserve a GOOD rating, although little is known on this aircraft capabilities yet.

Sexy, excellent payload, versitile in operations and manouverability, cheap and very effective. Oh and regarding the F-15 out climbing it with the F-16 in full afterburner and the F-15 at normal military thrust. F-15's have 2 engines, what more would you expect. F-15's are fuel guzzlers too.

Aging fast. The even older F-15's outfly it easily. I've seen demonstrations where the F-16 was showing off with a max burner climb out when an F-15 when right past it climbing steeper and accelerating from a one mile handicap without using its burners. Made the demonstrating F-16 look like an airliner climbing out. The theme was every aircraft in the USAF history flying overhead one at a time. The Wright Flyer was first. The F-16 flew over and then the announcer said the F-16 was going to demonstrate the superior power with a max burner climb out. The F-16 had hit burner and was climbing when the F-15 flew over in level flight. After the slow fly over, the F-15 then went to full military (without after burner) and climbed right past the F-16 going up at a steeper angle with more speed and was out of sight going up while the F-16 was still in full burner climb demonstration. 'Nough said.

Too old!

That's a 4th generation aircraft, no matter they try modifying or upgrading it, it will remain downgraded.

Extremely agile for a fighter aircraft, and a huge payload to boot. A great design.

Good but showing it's age. Can't wait to see the new variant when it comes out - that will probably change my opinion!