Every day there is so much aviation news on the Internet, everyone should be familiar with the F-16 fighter, about the performance of this type of fighter, there is a lot of information on the network, this article will not be too much introduction. The F-16 fighter is known to be a vast family, from the early F-16A/B, to the F-16C/D of the 1980s, to the F-16E/F of the 21st century, to the latest F-16V, which has a large number of sub-models and different batches. It is not an easy task to figure out all these fighters. Today I will focus on sharing with you a few major models of cockpits.
The early models of the F-16 fighter were mainly F-16A/B, which were divided into block 5, block 10, block 15, block 20, 4 batches, of which F-16A/B block 20, more special. We'll talk about that later. The cockpit pictured above is the cockpit of the F-16A/B block5, block10, block15. From the picture, you can see that the traditional instrument is the mainstay, there is only one multi-function display, and there is also a monochrome display, this cockpit is very backward from today's point of view, and it was the world's advanced level in that year. After more than 20 years, most of these fighters have been retired, and a few fighters in service have upgraded their cockpits to the level of the F-16C/D.
The F-16 fighter jet mentioned in the news now, the model that everyone pays attention to is generally the F-16C/D fighter, the earliest F-16C/D fighter is the F-16C block25, the first F-16C block25 first successfully flew on June 29, 1984. In the same year, the aircraft were given priority in the U.S. Air Force. Starting with this batch of fighters, the F-16 finally began to use standard glass cockpits. The picture above is the cockpit of the F-16C block25, you can see that there are two multi-function displays inside the cockpit, Marconi's wide-angle diffraction flat display, the HUD can see the control panel below, and the F-16C block25 at this time can be understood as a modern fighter.
By 1986, the U.S. military industry had developed a more advanced F-16C block 30/32 fighter, that is, from this time on, the F-16 fighter began to use two engines, of which the F-16 with a general-purpose F110 engine was called the F-16C block30, and the F-16 with pratt & Whitney's F100 engine was called the F-16C block32. This batch of F-16 fighter jets has the capability to launch AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles for the first time. Comparing the picture above, you can see that the cockpit of the F-16C block 30/32 fighter jet and the F-16C block 25 is not much different.
In 1988, the U.S. military industry introduced the F-16C block 40/42 fighter, and like the F-16C block 30/32 fighter, the 40 series used the general F110 and the 42 series used the Universal F100. The two fighters were equipped with the U.S. Air Force in late 1988 and the latter with the U.S. Air Force in early 1989. The F-16C block 40/42 fighter has two biggest differences compared to the previous model, first of all, this fighter uses framed wide-angle diffraction flat display, and the F-16 fighter we have seen so far, only the F-16C block 40/42 fighter uses this device. The F-16C block 40/42 also added an integrated GPS receiver, the first fighter in the U.S. Air Force to be equipped with such a device.
Pictured above is the Marconi company's framed wide-angle diffraction flat display used by the F-16C block 40/42 fighter jet, which can display forward-looking infrared images from the infrared photoelectric pod, which is also the first of the F-16 fighter's improved models to have night-time ground attack capability. At the same time, it has a good ability to strike accurately to the ground. The air weight and large take-off weight of the fighter are also much heavier than the previous model. It can be said that the F-16C block 40/42 fighter is very important to the USAfrel. Currently, the U.S. Air Force is actively operating fighters, and a large number of F-16C block 40/42 are in service. It can be seen that in the 1980s, the US military industry introduced a large number of improved models of F-16 fighters, after all, international relations in that era were very complicated.
After entering the 90s, the U.S. military industry introduced the more advanced F-16C Block 50/52 fighter jet, of which the U.S. Air Force is mainly equipped with the F-16C Block 50. At present, many national air forces are also equipped with this batch of fighters. This batch of fighters is not as flat as the F-16C block40, its cockpit as a whole is not much different, F-16C block50/52 fighter compared to the previous model, highlighting the fighter's accurate ground attack capabilities, especially the ability to reverse radiation, so for a long time, some people called some F-16C block50 F-16CJ fighters. At present, a large number of F-16C block50s of the US Air Force have been modernized, and the upgraded fighters are called F-16CM and F-16DM fighters. You can see that the cockpit of the above models is generally a design of one level and two down.
After entering the 21st century, the US military industry launched an F-16E/F multi-role fighter in order to export to the outside world. This fighter can also be called the F-16E/F block60 fighter. Using active phased array radar, it was the most advanced F-16 fighter of the time, which was also a special model for the Uae Air Force. The cockpit of the fighter is completely different from the previous model, and the first one-level and three-down design is adopted, in which the size of a single monitor is also larger than the previous model. At that time, there were many fighters in the world, and only the Swedish JAS-39 fighter could match it. It was also the first truly glassy cockpit of the F-16 fighter.
From 1991 to 2018, the U.S. military industry sold a large number of F-16 fighters in the global military market, of which the most sold model was the F-16C block 50/52 fighter, which is also the largest number of models in stock. Today, the model actively promoted by the US military industry is the F-16V fighter pictured above, which can also be called the F-16 block70 fighter. It uses an AN/APG-83 active phased array radar with super visual range combat capability. The cockpit level is between the F-16C block 50/52 fighter and the F-16E/F multirole fighter, but its software is heavily optimized, and its overall cockpit design should be much stronger than the previous F-16 fighter. Today, air power from many countries and regions purchases this aircraft.
These are the cockpits of some of the mainstream models of F-16 fighters. In addition to the F-16 fighter, there is another model that deserves our attention, that is, the F-2A/B fighter developed and produced by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has a higher cockpit level than the F-16 fighter at that time, and is slightly inferior to the cockpit of later F-16E/F and F-16V fighters.
Well, after reading these introductions, everyone should have a general understanding of the cockpit development history of the F-16 fighter. From mechanical instrumentation, to one flat and two down, and then to one flat and three times, the development of the F-16 fighter is similar to several other American fighters, and the development of each step has witnessed the progress of military technology at that time. The design of modern fighters, because of the service for decades, there will be a large number of models, it is impossible to ascend to the sky in one step.