Last February marked the 48th anniversary of the first flight of the single-engine F-16 fighter. Of these, 33 are in service in Greece. Since January 1989, when the 330 Squadron (Lightning) was founded. The first unit of the Air Force equipped with F-16 Block 30 fighters.
The official entry into service was made with the declaration of 330 operational, in April 1990. Since then, of course, a lot has been done, as three more F-16 purchases from Greece followed. The formation of a second Squadron F-16 Block 30, of 346 (Iason), was followed by the second order of 40 more F-16 Block 50 fighters in 1992.
The receipt of these fighters began as a process in July 1997 and in the years that followed the Air Force moved to another level. The F-16 Block 30 was indeed a multi-role platform for the data of the 1980s and early 1990s, as it could operate in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles.
The most important piece of equipment for this feature was the AN / APG-68 radar that replaced the AN / APG-66 on the production line when version -C replaced -A. Despite this, the F-16, although better, did the same as the F-4 Phantom. At the same time, it acquired the ability to fire the new generation at that time, medium-range air-to-air missile AIM – 120 AMRAAM, several years after its entry into service.
The significant difference came with the introduction of the Block 50 into service, along with the LANTIRN system. Until that time, in the early 2000s, both the purebred A-7H / E Corsair II bomber and the Phantom could hit ground targets with high precision using combined radar and INS. Day and night. The F-16 Block 30 was able to do the same with even greater accuracy.
With the Block 50 and the LANTIRN, the Air Force was able to penetrate enemy airspace from a low altitude, 24 hours a day, via the AN / AAQ – 13. shipping fuselage, regardless of the weather. So, for the first time in its history, it could hit targets deep in enemy territory with its fighters acting undetected.
It also has the ability to hit targets with high precision laser-guided (LGB) guided bombs via the LANTIRN AN / AAQ-14 targeting fuselage. It is a purely passive targeting method that offers the possibility of a sudden attack with a pop up maneuver (Double ninety), just before arriving in the area where the target is located.
So in the 90’s the F-16 was an important evolutionary step for the Air Force. The same, of course, applied to the Turkish THIK even earlier, although the results of the NATO exercise assessments showed (and still show) that the Turkish crews never managed to take advantage of the Terrain Following capability and F-16 precision strikes. / LANTIRN, to the extent that the Greek crews had succeeded!
These capabilities and performance shattered the arguments of proponents of the F / A-18C / D or A / B fighter jet market. his choice as the new USAF light fighter (LWF – Light Weight Fighter program), weighed heavily and at the same time grew in size when it was developed into the Navy F / A – 18A / B by McDonnell Douglas. It may have had a higher radius and carrying capacity than the F-16, but it was less flexible and clearly more expensive to use and support. Apart from the fact that it was more expensive as a fighter in terms of its purchase.
The Air Force may indeed have decided to choose the twin-engine F / A-18 as part of a process that was abusively dubbed the “Greek market of the century”, mainly because it was a twin-engine. Experience, however, proved that the single-engine F – 16 best suited the Greek business needs.
The acceleration, the degree of ascent and in general the performance of the F – 16 can not be compared with the corresponding numbers of the F / A – 18 or the Mirage 2000. The latter, could compete with it thanks to the delta wing and was completely superior in a specific range of speeds and heights. In the 90’s the French fighter was upgraded while in Greek service, acquiring the ICMS 2000Mk.1 self-defense and electronic warfare system with exceptional capabilities and the ability to carry and launch two AM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles.
In contrast, the F-16 in both Block 30 and Block 50 versions did not have the capability to use anti-ship missiles, while ASPIS I, which was integrated in them as a self-defense system and E / P, was inferior to the ICMS 2000Mk.1. At the same time, the Mirage 2000EG did not have the capabilities of the F-16 in aerial combat beyond the optical horizon (BVR), even when it acquired the firing capability of the Matra Super 530D semi-active guidance.
From the first half of the 1990s, the French, through the Rafale program, were forced to transfer part of the technology they developed for their new twin-engine fighter to the Mirage 2000, in an effort to make it highly competitive with new versions of the F- 16. They achieved this to a great extent when the UAE invested by contributing (essentially assuming the cost) to the development of -9.
Of course, at almost double the cost, they did the same in the case of the F-16E / F Block 60, but the innovations introduced by the leading version of the Fighting Falcon to date, were not transferred to the production line on behalf of other air forces. The modern Mirage 2000-9 / -5Mk.2, F-16 Block 50 + / 52 + and Block 50+ Advanced / 52 + Advanced did not have the capabilities of the first in aerial combat beyond the optical horizon (BVR), but had JHMCS type HMD and IRIS – T missiles.
So the possibilities were different as the amazing RDY-2 radar with the advanced software and symbolism developed for the Rafale put the -9 / Mk.2 ahead in BVR jams. In the air-to-ground part, however, the Air Force did not take advantage of the Mirage 2000-5EG, unlike the UAE Air Force.
The Air Force therefore continued to rely on the F-16 Block 52+ and Block 52+ Advanced to strike ground targets at even greater distances through compliant fuel tanks (CFTs) and huge non-disposable 600 gallon outer tanks (US Gal). ). The Link 16 made a big difference in the new missile systems, while the JDAM collections and the AGM-154 JSOW glider were added to the range of F-16 weapons.
The Air Force, looking to the future, had been interested since the second half of the 2000s (2007!) In the Israeli SPICE 1000 and 2000 guidance collections that simply turn “irons” (Mk.82, Mk.83, Mk.84) into stand off precision weapons. Unfortunately, this program did not go ahead then and has not been implemented until today.
Thus, the development and introduction into service and large numbers of new air-to-ground stand-off weapons of a purely regular nature, gave many air forces a new perspective on the F-16, among other fighters. Mainly for this, its production continues in the form of the F-16V Block 70/72. Like its sales of course.
The US Air Force itself, which has always been its biggest user, while a decade ago was planning its final withdrawal by the end of 2025, was of course forced to reconsider. After the delays in the F-35 program, it led on the one hand to the faster development of the 6th generation fighter and on the other hand to the modernization of the F-16 (https://defencereview.gr/i-amerikaniki-aeroporia-anavathmizei-608/), which remains after for decades its most populous fighter.
The F-16 will remain in service in the ranks of its largest user for at least another 25 years. That is, until the end of the 2040s! On these data, are based the arguments that impose from the Greek side the extension of the business life even of the old versions of the F-16 available to the Air Force.
To fully understand what all this means, we must recall that when Greece decided in 1997 to modernize the F-4E Phantom it had purchased in the first half of the 1970s, the press had withdrawn from the USAF (the largest user worldwide) from 1990 – 1991. The US Navy had preceded it in the 1980s.
Support costs soon skyrocketed, despite the fact that the F-4 remained in service in many other countries, as did the A-7. its support system, as well as the mechanism with the spare parts storage and distribution infrastructure. When he is removed, all this infrastructure passes into the hands of private companies. With all that entails…
