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General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1974· multirole fighter, , air superiority fighter

🎖️ military jet ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Defense.gov News Photo 070720-F-5502S-003: Capt. Tana R.H. Stevenson, U.S. Air Force· Public domain
  2. 2. Mitsubishi F-2: Marine Cpl. Ashleigh Bryant· Public domain
  3. 3. General Dynamics YF-16: Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation· GFDL 1.2
  4. 4. F-16C/D Fighting Falcon: Noah Wulf· CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5. General Dynamics X-62 VISTA: NASA· Public domain
  6. 6. 84606 General Dynamics F-16BM 11(MR) 39W Pakistan Air Force Konya AFB 30.6.22 (52233200683): Colin Cooke Photo· CC BY-SA 2.0
  7. 7. A U.S. Air Force Airman from the 169th Fighter Wing conducts post flight tasks in an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft during a phase II operational readiness evaluation at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C. 080412-F-WT236-013: SSG CAYCEE R. COOK· Public domain
  8. 8. An F-16 of the Egyptian Air Force fly in support of exercise Agile Phoenix: Senior Airman Dominic Tyler· Public domain
  9. 9. F-16AM Ukrainian Air Force during take off: Ukrainian Air Force· CC BY 4.0
  10. 10. F-16C Block 50M de la Fuerza aerea de Chile: TheReaper2033· CC BY-SA 4.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Capt. Tana R.H. Stevenson, U.S. Air Force· Public domain

what is it?

The General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fourth-generation fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics and produced by multiple companies, including General Dynamics until 1993 and Lockheed Martin since. Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft with over 4,600 built since 1976. The aircraft was first developed by General Dynamics in 1974.

How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 10 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 933 km/hcruise speed
  • size 19.2 tmax take-off weight
  • built 4,604made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 52 years ago, in 1974.
  • Wingspan of 10 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight
1974-01-20
introduced
1979
status
still flying
number built
4,604
role
multirole fighter, , air superiority fighter
origin
🇺🇸 United States
makers
Lockheed Corporation, Fokker, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Turkish Aerospace Industries, Samsung Aerospace
engines
1× General Electric F110-GE-129 for Block 50 aircraft / Pratt & Whitney F100
crew
1
length
15.1 m
wingspan
10 m
height
4.9 m
max take-off weight
19.2 t
top speed
—
cruise speed
933 km/h
range
—
ceiling
15,240 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family

Mitsubishi F-21995

Sources: Wikidata Q100026, Wikipedia: General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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