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A General Dynamics F-16 fighter is being modified for an Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory test program which aims to increase aircraft survivability and attack efficiency in combat by revolutionising the fighter's maneuvering ability and weapons delivery systems Information developed during the Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI/F-16) Program will be used by the US aerospace industry to design future fighter aircraft AFTI/F-16 systems developments include triplex-digital fly-by-wire flight controls. advanced displays, system management computers and integrated flight and weapons fire controls Aerodynamic changes visible in the AFTI/F-16 artist's concept are two large manoeuvering canards for direct force control and a dorsal fairing that will contain flight test equipment.
Newsdesk – Military
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Eagle in the Wings:
McDonnell Douglas have made a firm submission to the USAF that would make the F-15 Eagle a contender for the USAF follow-on fight or order Currently the USAF has on specific order 650 General Dynamics F-16 fighters with a further 738 (for a total of 1388) slated for follow-on order. There has been continued comment regarding the lack of an all-weather capability in the intheF-16 particularly as this relates to possible use in a hostile European environment where an all-weather capability is considered essential USAF claim that by adding a radar-guided AAM such as Sparrow or the proposed Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) along with a more capable radar the current cost of the low-cost F-16 will rise substantially. McDonnell Douglas were therefore quick to react to the USAF request for firm prices on the F-15 as an alternative to acquiring additional F-16s after aircraft number 650 is delivered in 1982 The McD proposal offers F-15s at a cost ratio of five F-15s for every seven F-16s. This offer is important to McD as F-15 production under current obligations is scheduled to be trimmed out by 1985 to only a few aircraft per year as attention buys, etc. Current F-15 output (for 1980) is 2. 5 aircraft per month which makes the Eagle doubly as expensive as the F-16. However, USAF have pointed out that If produced at the rate of 22 per month, or the same as current F-16 production, then the cost of the F-15 would come down to that of an enhanced F-16. This would also allow McD greater opportunity to exploit the Eagle on the international marketplace in addition to being more price competitive for Arr Defence Command’s F-106 replacement and the USAF European adverse weather attack aircraft requirement.
What They Cost:
US DOD budget requests for 1981 reveal one interesting price being paid for major US weapon systems. The F-16 shapes up at $1Om a copy flyaway, (sans weapons, support and spares) the F-14 at $29m, the E-2C at $38m, the F-15 at $25m, Boeing E-3A at $123m each McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender at $49m, P-3C Orion at $29m, the Air Launched Cruise Missile at $1. 1m each and the Fairchild A-10 at $8m each. The F-18A costs $21m each, more than double that of the F-16, However, the F-18 is in its early days of development and the unit flyaway once Is expected to diminish over the next three to four years. The USN also point out that current program budgeting Is on a fleet buy of 1366 aircraft Navy officials have indicated that they will probably end up purchasing 1845 aircraft which would reduce the per unit acquisition cost to around $16m an aircraft It is impossible to compare these prices to the TFF requirement as Australia is bidding in an entirely different manner to that of the American forces.
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