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Wild Blue Yonder 1: 50 Years of Gs & Jets
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Wild Blue Yonder - Episode 1 - 50 Years of Gs and Jets (Digital Ranch) (Spectrum Holobyte)(1-107-40-101)(1994).iso
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00098_Field_98.txt
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1994-08-29
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The Multi-Role Fighter
As with many lightweight fighters, the F-16 took on more roles
than were originally envisioned for it. The Falcon soon matured
into a multi-role fighter able to carry a six-ton external load
of fuel tanks, bombs, missiles and electronic counter-measure
(ECM) gear. It also became the subject of an almost continuous
series of experimental design studies, some of which, like the
Control Configured Vehicle YF-16, even reached flight status.
In combat, the Falcon became a valuable all-around fighter. The
Israeli Air Force found the F-16 to be a perfect complement to
its F-15s as well as its Kfirs and F-4s. Israel made extensive
use of the F-16 in the long and bloody conflict in Lebanon. In
engagements with Syrian MiG-21s and MiG-23s, the F-16 Falcon and
F-15 Eagle together ran up overwhelming victory scores. In one
fight alone, these American-built jets destroyed the Soviet-built
aircraft at a rate of 22-to-0. In the whole series of battles,
the Syrians lost 85 aircraft against the Israelis' 13, which
included only one F-16 loss.
The most famous F-16 mission in the Middle East was launched on
June 6, 1981. On that day, eight F-16As and six F-15As attacked
the Iraqi nuclear facility at Dimona. Each Falcon carried two
1,000-kilogram bombs in this low-level attack which utterly
destroyed the target. Crippling the plant prevented Iraq from
developing a nuclear capability, a crucial concern when the Gulf
War began nearly ten years later.
In the early morning of February 28, 1994, United Nation forces
detected six Serbian Soko G-4 Galeb attack aircraft in a "no-fly
zone" in central Bosnia. The aircraft were on a mission to bomb
Muslim artillery positions. Two American F-16s on routine patrol
detected the Serbian planes and ordered them to leave the area.
After the Serbians ignored the warning, the lead F-16 attacked.
With an AIM-120 radar missile, the American jet destroyed the
first Serbian plane. Using two Sidewinders, the same jet knocked
down two more Serbian aircraft. The second F-16 destroyed
another Galeb with a Sidewinder before the remaining Serbian
planes retreated. This attack was the first offensive military
action conducted by NATO in its 44-year history.