Agile F-16 Falcon

[hesham]

Hi,

General Dynamics studied the Agile F-16 Falcon project,the wing increased
about 25 %,from 300ft to 375ft.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201471.html?search=aircraft%201987

 

[KJ_Lesnick]

How would this have affected the F-16's top-speed, and high-speed maneuverability?


Kendra Lesnick

 

[sferrin]

How would this have affected the F-16's top-speed, and high-speed maneuverability?


Kendra Lesnick

A better place to ask would be F-16.net.

 

[Just call me Ray]

At the very least it would've required more power at speed based on larger wing = more lift = more drag

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Later F-16 was short on wing area and thrust due to weight growth. Higher thrust engines improved the T/W ratio but the wing loading could only be addressed with a new wing. I imagine it was decided it was unneccessary as F-15 was primary A/A asset while F-16 is primarily A/S tasked.

 

[LowObservable]

Agile Falcon was a response to 1987? directive from OSD to Mcs and GD, to look at improvements to F-16 and F-18. Mainly for export, intended to head off anticipated competition from Typhoon and Rafale, given that F-22 was not considered exportable. It was the start of the process that led to the Super Hornet, but the GD design never went anywhere. Nobody was in the market at the time, and the payoff compared with the investment was not that great. Not long after that, GD's future studies shifted to the delta-wing Falcon 21, which begat F-16U and which offered much more improvement, particularly in air-to-ground.

 

[starviking]

How would this have affected the F-16's top-speed, and high-speed maneuverability?


Kendra Lesnick

A better place to ask would be F-16.net.

Or even compare a F-16 with the Mitsubishi F-2 - it seems very similar in design to the Agile Falcon, having a 25% wing area increase over the F-16.

Starviking