Wednesday 3 April 2019

Comparison between F-35 and F-16 fighter aircrafts and their dogfight capability.

Comparison between F-35 and F-16 fighter aircrafts and their dogfight capability.


There was much discussion over the F-35 vs F-16 dogfight on my western fellow pages.

 Especially because a report came out in 2015 detailing how the F-16 outmatched the F-35 in a dogfight. But there are key factors that need to be put on the table before forming an accurate opinion on the F-35s ability to hold its own.

First, the technology, engine and pilots were brand new at the time. Since the report of the poor results came out, much has changed about the flight operation of the F-35.
 U.S. Air Force generals have said publicly that the pilots flying F-35s currently are trained to fly legacy aircraft. Essentially, the new plane doesn’t react like most of the other U.S. fighters. The next generation of pilots will be the ones to determine to capabilities of the Lightning II.

Secondly, the F-35 isn’t meant to fight wars like the F-16. The F-16 is designed with a battle, a real dogfight, in mind. The F-35, with its fused sensors and tactical stealth capabilities, intends to seek, locate and strike its opponents long before the enemy ever even sees the F-35. U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Hostage said, “The F-35 pilot who engages in a dogfight has either made a mistake or been very unlucky.”

Technically speaking, the F-35 has a lower thrust to weight ratio – 1.07 vs 1.11 of the F-16 – an important statistic in dogfights.

Additionally, its close range weaponry is underwhelming compared to the Fighting Falcon. However, the U.S. Air Force believes that the age of the dogfight is over. Battles will be fought with the long-range, advanced technology inside of the F-35 Lightning II, not the close-range weaponry of the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Speed:
The Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engine gives the Lightning II a maximum speed of roughly 1,200 miles per hour.

The speed of F-16 is 1,500 miles per hour – roughly 300 miles per hour faster than the F-35.

Range:
F-35 have range of more than 1,350 miles with internal fuel (1,200+ nautical miles),
F-16 have ferry range of 2002 miles.

Both have celling of Above 50,000 feet (15 kilometers).

F-35 have unit cost of 91 Million Dollar
F-16 have unit price of 20-32 million dollar.

#ZA/SA
Source, #Military_Machines

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Comparison between F-35 and F-16 fighter aircrafts and their dogfight capability.

Comparison between F-35 and F-16 fighter aircrafts and their dogfight capability. There was much discussion over the F-35 vs F-16 dogfi...