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In part 2 we continue to look at the Northrop F-20A Tigershark and how its story intertwines with other aircraft programs of the 1980s. Another F-20 is flown The second Pre-production F-20 (82-0063 / GI1001) was flown in August 1983. This configuration included a bigger radome, enlarged canopy, and an up-rated 17,000 lb thrust F404 engine. (Note: The first pre-production jet mentioned in part 1 (82-0062) also received the 17,000 lb thrust engine in 1983.) Also note: “Pre-production” means that Northrop was not going through a Prototype or Full Scale Development (FSD) phase so these aircraft were actually intended to be sold with the F-20 upgrades and changes. F-20 #2 (Northrop Grumman) Let’s get some people on board to really help sell it (F-20 Tigershark Vs F-15) You remember the Light Weight Fighter Mafia right – well they had mostly since left the Pentagon and had reformed as the err “Reformers” (or “Critics” to the USAF), which included John Boyd, Ex USAF Col Everest Riccioni, Pierre Sprey, Chuck Spinney and James Fallows. James Fallows was Washington editor for The Atlantic Monthly.( Described as an anti-military liberal journalist) Fallows had cottoned onto the Reformers in 1979 when researching ideas on how to cut military budgets and had interviewed John Boyd who was still smarting over what was done to the F-16. Fallows was able to gain publicity for the Reformers and their ideas, for example through the best-selling book National Defense in 1981. The Reformers had jumped on the AIMVAL/ACEVAL (Air Intercept Missile Evaluation / Air Combat Evaluation) results in the late 1970s where Red force F-5s had faced off against a blue force of F-15 and F-14s, and the book National Defense was the perfect platform to spin the results. The book took choice cuts from the results carefully omitting information that didn’t fit their agenda and the press went for it, with the Chicago Tribune printing that the F-15 had been “fought to all but a draw” by the F-5 and CBS calling the F-15 a “turkey”. In National Defense reformer Everest Riccioni claimed F-15s couldn’t fly many sorties and so the Air Force actually had a “Phantom fleet”. He then claimed the Air Force could buy 1000 advanced F-5s (The F-20) for the cost of 250 F-15s and generate 10 times more sorties in wartime (2500 v 250). Did I mention that Northrop had hired Everest Riccioni and Pierre Sprey at the time and Riccioni was working on the F-20 program. In reality what had happened in AIMVAL/ACEVAL was that tactics used were not entirely realistic and a lot of it was skewed in favour of the F-5. Despite this the F-15 still had a 2.5 Kill ratio in favour and the AIM-7 (another Reformers target) was responsible of the majority of the simulated kills. From the USAF point of view neither Pierre Sprey or Everest Riccioni had any credibility compared to John Boyd (who had taken a back seat at this stage) and the scraping nails account of this episode suggests this did more harm than good to the F-20 program regarding US support. F-15C - Can you say “it’s a Turkey” in a Pierre Sprey accent? (Airliners.net) What else could have upset the USAF Although a typical sales tactic, Northrop had no real data to back up any claims they were making for the F-20 such as cost, reliability and sortie rate. For example, as RAND point out………. Northrop claims of reliability on the F-20 were pretty much irrelevant. Only 1500 flights in a “test” environment with hand-picked engineers cannot be compared to years of “operational” experience the F-16 had around the world maintained by guys with varied experience in different environments. True cost and sortie rate could never be known as none ever went operational. Some of Northrop’s claims also seemed to stay the same despite airframe and avionics changes that would increase cost. F-20 goes to Top Gun Back in the mid-1970s the USAF were allocated F-5s that never made it to South Vietnam that were wanted because they were very similar in performance and some other aspects to the MiG-21 and so were perfect to use as aggressors at Red Flag. Naturally in 1984 when the US Navy wanted a MiG-29 simulator / aggressor for Top Gun, Northrop seeing a way in offered the F-20A at a low price with its promise of lower operating costs. Senator Pete Wilson had managed to get money through congress in the hope the F-20 was selected. General Dynamics also offered the F-16N (F-16C Block 30 with gun replaced by ballast) for a very low £11m each which was the same unit price as the F-20. The USN went with the F-16 which they believed to be a better simulator for 4th Gen threats…and it probably was being a bit larger with superior performance, also high-tech avionics were not required, in fact they stuck in the basic APG-66 radar from the A model. The USN literally got steal of the century on unit cost here…………. or they would have done if someone at the Navy hadn’t specified titanium wing attachment brackets without testing them (another story). F-16N (Lockheed Martin) Another F-20A flies The third pre-production F-20 (82-0064 / GI1002) first flew on May 12 1984 and was similar to 82-0063 / GI1001 in configuration it seems. F-20 Pre-production figures from Flight Manual F-20 #3 (Northrop Grumman) Tragedy befalls Northrop and the program On the 10th October 1984 the first pre-production F-20 (82-0062) crashed at Suwon Air Base in Korea killing pilot Darrell Cornell. Cornell had apparently succumbed to G-LOC after a 9G pull up as part of practicing an established demonstration routine with the aircraft appearing unresponsive after the maneuver. The Northrop F-18L and McAir All this time Northrop had been having a handbag face slapping argument with McDonnell Douglas (McAir). In October 1979, Northrop filled a $700 million antitrust suit against McAir. Northrop had developed the YF-17 for the Light Weight Fighter (LWF) competition in 1974 and this was later developed into the FA-18 carrier-based fighter under some kind of teaming agreement. Under this agreement McAir as prime contractor would build 60% of the carrier capable FA-18 and Northrop would build 40%. For the land-based F-18L Northrop were prime contractor building 60% and McAir building 40%. The Northrop F-18L was what might have been if the YF-17 had won in 74. Without all the extra weight needed for carrier ops and a totally different 9G structure it was over 2500 lbs lighter with a top end of M2.0 and was initially specified with a hard wing losing 3000 lbs of fuel reducing its range. Northrop basically had accused McAir of trying to monopolize the business and basically interfering with the F-18Ls chances of success in the export market by launching active sales efforts for the FA-18 to potential customers when they showed interest in the F-18L. Another suit also claimed McAir was unfairly using Northrop technology from the F-18L to sell its own FA-18. McAir then counter-sued against Northrop, claiming that the Northrop F-20 avionics had been taken from the McAir FA-18……. The suit was finally settled by April 1985……. which meant McDonnell Douglas would pay Northrop $50 million and become the prime/sole contractor for all FA-18s including export sales, and thus the F-18L was never heard from again………….. The F-18L - another unloved Light Weight Fighter devoid of orders (Northrop Grumman) F-16C v F-20A merge head on In April 1985 to try and finally get some sales from the US Government, Northrop offered 396 F-20s to replace current F-16C production at a fixed price of $15 million, undercutting the F-16C fixed price of $18 million. General Dynamics hit back with a 720-plane proposal for stripped down F-16s at $13.5 million each with cheaper avionics. These were apparently jokingly referred to as the “F-16C-minus”. This clearly came to nothing. F-20 #3 again (Northrop Grumman) Another Tragedy On the 14th May 1985 at Goose Bay, Canada the second pre-production F-20 (82-0063 / GI1001) crashed in a similar manner to the first killing Dave Barnes. Barnes was incapacitated during or after a 9G pull up as part of the demonstration being practised for the Paris air show. With no flight recorder on board the enquiry attributed this again to G-LOC and possibly a result of reduced G tolerance after flying four high G demonstration flights that day. The Air Defense Fighter (ADF) competition In 1986 the US Air Force (as ordered by Congress) held a competition for 270 mainland Interceptors for the defense of the Continental US. Both the F-20 and F-16 were contenders, and good point defense fighters despite the reservations of some. Sadly, again the F-20 was not favoured for a few reasons: · The F-20 was not in production so the costs couldn’t be guaranteed The cost to operate and maintain it would be higher than Northrop had claimed. In the end neither the General Dynamics or the Northrop proposal were selected by the Air Force, instead it was decided to take 270 F-16A Block 15s in service from the Air National Guard (ANG) and modify them to an ADF and OCU (Operational Capability Upgrade) standard, with: A higher thrust F100-PW-220 engine Capability to use bigger 600 US Gal drop tanks An Advanced IFF interrogator An upgraded APG-66 (V) 1 radar with increased range, small target capability and the capability to fire AIM-120 and AIM-7. F-16 A Air Defense Fighters (USAF) Making the F-20 better (The fourth Pre-production jet) Interestingly by the 1986 ADF competition there had been changes to the F-20 to increase range and deal with carriage of AIM-7s with proposals to: Increase internal fuel to 5050 lbs by replacing the fuselage bladder with integral fuel tanks. Increase external drop tank size. Increase thrust of the F404 to 18000 lbs to offset the extra weight and drag. New Electromagnetic Maneuvering flaps. Fly By Wire control system with backup Hydromechanical controls (similar to FA-18) Northrop & GE were also working on an upgraded APG-67 radar with enhanced range. This was proposed by putting a bigger antenna on it and moving it back in the nose. Luckily, they also intended to replace the obsolete M39s with a single modern gun to make some room for the radar move. This is said to have been planned for the fourth Pre-Production aircraft (82-0065/ GI1003) but was only 25% compete when cancelled. This remained a paper airplane but nonetheless a valiant effort to reduce some of the performance deficiencies. Of course, the glaring problem here is that by making these changes the cost and complexity increases, reducing its advertised selling points and ending up with a jet that offers nothing significant over the F-16 and FA-18…………and unfortunately the US was still not interested in buying it. The end Northrop closed the F-20 program at the end of 1986 at the cost of around $1.2 billion……… it just was not meant to be with everything against it. However, despite the loss Northrop were still doing okay out of the FA-18, ATF (YF-23) and B-2 programs at that time. No conciliation to them but perhaps an example of how competition can sometimes benefit US services by keeping cost down. Summary of the F-5G/F-20A Pre-Production Aircraft F-20A on Display at the California Science Center https://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/air-space/air-aircraft/f-20-tigershark Sources F-20A Utility Flight Manual (NTM 1F-20A-1) for GI1001 & GI1002, Jan 1984 (Northrop) Northrop F-5G/F20A Tigershark (Baugher J ) 2000 online at http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/f5_51.html A Case study of the F-20 Tigershark (Martin, Schmidt) 1987, RAND Corporation The Reformers (Correll JT), Feb 2008 Air Force Magazine. P40-44 The Revolt of the Majors How the Air Force changed after Vietnam (Michell III, ML) Auburn University Sierra Hotel: Flying Air Force fighters in the decade after Vietnam. (Anderegg CR) 2001 Air Force History and Museums Program Boyd (Coram R) 2002, Back Bay Books F-20A Tigershark (Wade, M) 2007 online at http://www.thecid.com/f20a/index.html F-16.net online at http://www.f-16.net/ Code One Magazine (General Dynamics) Northrop F-18L (Baugher J), 2000 online at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_fighters/f18_9.html Huge Lawsuit settled, ( AP News archive) 1985, online at http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1985/Huge-Lawsuit-Settled/id-cca766d9766ec7f4d1aa29c5ca5db7cb The Land Based F-18L, Flight International December 1978 p2034-2035 Title Photos for Part 1 and Part 2 from Northrop Grumman

File Name: AMI F-16A Block 15 Air Defense Fighter (ADF) File Submitter: dtmdragon File Submitted: 07 March 2016 File Category: F-16 AMI/ Italian Air Force F-16A Blk 15 Air Defence Fighter (ADF) In 2003 The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana) leased 34 F-16A/B (mostly block 15 ADF variants) as a stop-gap solution until delivery of the Eurofighter Typhoon in 2010-12. The F-16 Air Defense Fighter (ADF) was a special variant of the Block 15 optimized for the United States Air National Guard's fighter interception mission. - Updated F-16A ADF 3D model by JAT81500 - New skins using the Team Viper F-16C High Res templates modified to fit the ADF. - Detailed Team Viper F-16 pilot model and ejection seat. - Flight model updated to the standard of the latest Team Viper F-16 flight model. - Third Wire F-16A cockpit and avionics modified to include the real world ADF upgrade (AIM-7/120). - Team Viper effects, sounds, fuel tanks and weapons. - FANATIC MODDER To install: Drop into your Mods folder Credits: - JAT81500 for doing the updated F-16A ADF 3D model - TMF/ Mirage Factory for the original F-16A ADF. - The Viper Team for thier F-16C/AM series. - Ravenclaw for the weapons and SF1 AMI F-16 Skins I used as a base and for the decals. - Migbuster for the F-16C skin templates. Enjoy, Dan (dtmdragon) History Since the early nineties, the Italian Air Force has eagerly been seeking a replacement for its vintage Aeritalia F-104S Starfighters. Its intended replacement is the Eurofighter Typhoon. Since this program has been running behind schedule for a few years, the Italian air force needed a stop-gap solution. Because the AMI possesses a vast number of Tornado IDS planes, they decided to lease 24 Tornado ADV fighters from the RAF for a 10-year period. This lease ended in 2003 so a replacement was sought. At first the AMI opted to extend the lease period with another 10 years. This proved to be too expensive, so the Italian government turned to the US. The requirement was for a fighter that could perform the air defense mission for 5 to 10 years, until the arrival of the Typhoon. Inventory Peace Caesar On March 15th, 2001 the Italian government signed an LoA for a 5-year lease (with an option on another 5 years) of 34 F-16s and four spare airframes, in a deal worth up to $777 million over a 10-year period. The aircraft were delivered between July 2003 and November 2004. In total, 30 F-16A ADFs as well as 1 F-16B ADF and 3 F-16B block 5 & 10's will be delivered. Four more planes will be provided for use as spare parts. Before delivery to Italy, the aircraft are brought out of storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. and transfered to the Ogden ALC at Hill AFB, Utah, where they undergo 220 days of refurbishment and upgrades. The Falcons are given a complete refurbishment, which complied with all technical compliance-technical orders that have changed since the aircraft was placed in stasis in Arizona. The depot teams at Hill AFB did structural modifications including Falcon-Up, which replaces particular bulkheads and the structural life improvement program, which strengthens holes around the fuel cell panels and wheel wells by compressing the molecules with 30,000 pounds of pressure. The wings were removed and the bulkhead furthest aft that holds the vertical wing was replaced. The landing gear was refurbished and its bulkhead was also replaced. The flight controls actuators are replaced with new actuators. In addition the computers and instruments that provide the Falcon its technological edge are removed, sent to the appropriate facilities to be tested then repaired if necessary. All equipment that is a time change item and that has less than a full year's worth of service left is changed. Approximately 100 Italian Air Force maintenance officers, instructors and technicians are receiving F-16 maintenance training at Lockheed Martin facilities in Fort Worth, Texas. End of service On May 23rd, 2012 a disbanding ceremony was held at Trapani-Birgi AFB to mark the disbandment of the resident 18 Gruppo, which was the sole surviving F-16 squadron within the AMI. This marked to end of the service life of the F-16 within the Italian Air Force. This means the AMI is the first air force to fly with the F-16 that phases out the type. Modifications & Armament The planes provided to Italy have a standard ADF configuration. All aircraft receive the uprated Pratt & Whitney F100-220E engine and undergo the Falcon-Up structural enhancement program. It is confirmed that a number of weapon systems will be released to the AMI to be used in conjunction with the F-16s, including the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, Click here to download this file

View File F-16A Block 15 Air Defense Fighter (ADF) Air National Guard F-16A Block 15 Air Defense Fighter (ADF) The F-16 Air Defense Fighter (ADF) was a special variant of the Block 15 optimized for the United States Air National Guard's fighter interception mission. I started this by breathing some new life into the old TMF F-16A ADF but then after posting some screen shots JAT kindly offered to do an updated model so here it is: - Updated F-16A ADF 3D model by JAT81500 - New skins using the Team Viper F-16C High Res templates modified to fit the ADF. - Detailed Team Viper F-16 pilot model and ejection seat. - Flight model updated to the standard of the latest Team Viper F-16 flight model. - Third Wire F-16A cockpit and avionics modified to include the real world ADF upgrade (AIM-7/120). - Team Viper effects, sounds, fuel tanks and weapons. To install: Drop into your C:\Users\xxxxxx\Saved Games\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters XXXXX Credits: - JAT81500 for doing the updated F-16A ADF 3D model - TMF/ Mirage Factory for the original F-16A ADF. - The Viper Team for thier F-16C/AM series. - Ravenclaw for the weapons. - Migbuster fot the F-16C skin templates. - =58=Sprig, Creepn_Death & suhsjake for the old F-16A ADF skins I used some of the decals from. - FANATIC MODDER Enjoy, Dan (dtmdragon) History In October 1986, the USAF announced that operational block 15 F-16A/B aircraft would be converted to air defense fighters for the Air National Guard, and would take over the fighter interception mission, providing the primary defense of North America against bombers and cruise missiles. The first F-16A ADF conversion was completed in February 1989, while a contract was placed for kits to update and modify a total of 270 F-16A/B's at the Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah. The Block 15 airframes used for the ADF program were all meant to be upgraded to block 15OCU standard, and both programs ran in conjunction. Aircraft entering the Ogden ALC for ADF upgrade also received the Block 15OCU avionics installation. The net result is that all ADF aircraft are Block 15OCU airframes. The last ADF left Ogden in 1992. Structure & Avionics Modifications included Bendix King (now Allied Signal) AN/ARC-200HF/SSB radios with Have Quick II Secure Speech Module and the Teledyne/E Systems Mk.XII Advanced IFF system (APX-109). The APG-66 radar was modified (designated APG-66A) to provide look down/shoot-down capability, enhanced small target detection, and CW (Continuous Wave) illumination for AIM-7 guidance. A 150,000 candlepower night identification spotlight was installed on the port side of the nose (below and in front of the cockpit) to aid in the identification of nighttime intruders. The aircraft were equipped to carry 600 (US) gallon (2,271 liter) external drop tanks, and to carry 6 BVR missiles such as the AIM-7 Sparrow or AIM-120 AMRAAM. Modifications & Upgrades The ADF aircraft can be distinguished from "standard" F-16A/B's by several external identifying features, such as long and thin horizontal bulges on the base of the vertical tail (only A-models), plus a set of four blade antenna, nicknamed "bird-slicer", carried just forward of the canopy (as part of the IFF system). The bulges are caused by the relocation of the Bendix-King AN/ARC-200 high frequency single-sideband radio to the leading edge of the fin. This in turn caused the flight control accumulators, which were installed one over the other, to be relocated to either side of the tail fin. The bulges were installed to provide sufficient room for these accumulators. Note that, since the Bravo-model ADF's do not have the Bendix HF radio, they also don't have the bulges. Production All ADF F-16s are modified airframes. Existing Block 15 models where converted to the Block 15OCU upgrade and to ADF standard at once. In total, 271 airframes, consisting in 246 A-models and 25 B-models have been converted between 1989 and 1992. Minor differences exist between the A-model and B-model as described earlier. Because of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the opening of relationships between West and East, the program had lost its major reason of existence, being the protection of the North American continent against Russian bombers flying over the North Pole. Although the program was finished and all aircraft stayed into service with the Air National Guard detachments, they were the first to be mothballed at AMARC with the first major restructuring of the USAF. Beginning in 1994, these aircraft began to be replaced by newer F-16C variants. By 2005, only the North Dakota ANG was flying this variant, with these last examples retired by 2007. A lot of these ADF F-16s are a very cheap and quite modern asset for allied countries. These aircraft have relatively low flying hours on their airframes. A lot of them are sold on the second-hand market. Jordan was the first to receive 12 A-models and 4-models under the Peace Falcon program in 1997. Most have since been received the Mid Life Upgrade (MLU). Thailand has acquired another batch of 15 A-models and 1 B-model under the Peace Naresuan IV program. Also the Italian Air Force received 26 A-models and 4 B-models under a 10-year lease agreement called Peace Caesar. Submitter dtmdragon Submitted 07/04/2015 Category F-16