The F-16 Block 70 has the new Center Pedestal Display (CPD), which provides critical tactical imagery to pilots on a high-resolution 6”x 8” screen. The display allows pilots to take full advantage of AESA and targeting pod data. The new CPD enables color moving maps, larger and easier to manage air-to-air Situation Displays, zoom functionality with the ability to switch information among displays, and a digital display of Flight Instrument Data. It is also compatible with the Night Vision Imaging System. The final part involves the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS) was purpose-built to prevent deadly crashes!

- The Pakistan F-16 earlier batches of block 30’s was recently upgraded to the Block 50 configuration by TAI (Turkish Aerospace Industries). Only the UAE Air Force is currently using Block 60 F-16s.

US F-16 Block 70 by Lockheed Martin
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-16/f-16-block-70.html

F-16V Viper
F-16V Block 70/72
On 15 February 2012, Lockheed Martin unveiled a new version of their F-16 at the 2012 Singapore Airshow. The F-16V will feature enhancements including an AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, an upgraded mission computer and architecture, and improvements to the cockpit – all capabilities identified by the U.S. Air Force and several international customers for future improvements. The new variant is dubbed the "Viper," which is intended to better operate with fifth-generation fighters, and should not be confused with Lockheed's F-16IN Block 70/72 "Super Viper," which was offered to India for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition and showcased at the 2009 Aero India Air Show. "The new F-16V will become the new F-16 baseline," said George Standridge, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' vice president of business development. The "Viper" program does not include the F-16 Block 60 features. On 16 October 2015 the F-16V flew for the first time with an APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar AESA, a new Center Pedestal Display, a modernized mission computer, Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, and many other upgrades. This can be fitted on new production F-16s or retrofitted on existing ones.

In September 2017, the US State Department has approved a Foreign Military Sale to Bahrain for 19 new F-16V and upgrade its 20 existing F-16 block 40 to F-16V.

In April 2018, the US State Department has approved a Foreign Military Sale to Slovakia for 14 new built F-16V. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon_variants

With the continuing money dumpster fire debacle of the F-35 still in development hell, they ought to instead buy some Super Vipers and turn them into unmanned drones to fill the multirole fighter gap.

Or overhaul some old F-16 Falcons and turn them into combat drones (the USAF turned some into target training drones a few years ago).

Or maybe the Indians chose the Dassault Rafale because it looks pretty?

>>112139
Every plane is better with bigger engines.

I have some knowledge and experience with engineering of fighter aircraft, avionics, etc.

The bottom line of all that stuff in the OP is that a Block 70 F-16 gives you about the best performance you'll get in a non-stealth aircraft. AESA radars give you a HUGE boost in detection range versus older mechanically scanned radar, and AESA radars are are themselves harder to detect.

The rest of the stuff you have there is a wash in terms of combat effectiveness, except for that CPD display. Displays matter, a whole fucking lot. Any display that lets you use your avionics better than the other guy can use his means you will have an easier time killing him.

So if I had to choose one model of the F-16, it would be the Block 70, but I'd rather be flying in an F-22 or an F-35 anyway

>>112151
I'm curious as to how well these later block airplanes work out. The F-16 was designed as a lightweight no frills fighter, that's now been loaded up with a big ass engine and every electronic device known to mankind. Do you have any idea on how well that evolution worked out for the countries that bought them?

I would imagine that all of the computer and electronic systems have gotten smaller and faster, so I doubt there was an increase in weight. I would also imagine that the fly by wire system has been greatly improved.

  USAF F-16CJ Fighter Pilot on SEAD Mission, Challenges of Flying Block 50 Viper

> "You Gotta Be Shittin' Me!!"

>>112155
The F-16 was made as an inexpensive (relatively; cheaper than the F-15 interceptor) multi-role fighter that could bomb, CAS and dogfight. Before, combat aircraft were specialists: fighters, bombers, recon, etc. but the move was to have planes that could do these various tasks, depending on their loadout. The F-4 Phantom could bomb and dogfight where the A-6 Intruder was nearly helpless when bounced by enemy fighters. The F-16 Falcon was a single-engine evolution of the multi-role design to be a fast strike fighter, leaving the expensive F-15 Eagles to deal with air superiority.

The Falcon is at the end of her service, especially when competing against advanced stealth fighters, but can still serve against the main targets: insurgents and terrorists with scant anti-aircraft defenses.

But even against desert peasants, the F-16 can come to embarrassing ends, such as that Jordanian F-16 shot down by terrorists in Syria (where the captured pilot was burned to death, if I recall) and, more recently, on 10 February 2018, an Israeli F-16I was shot down by by an S-200 missile fired by the Syrian Air Defense after conducting an air raid on Iran-backed positions inside Syrian territory.

The F-16 had been scheduled to remain in service with the U.S. Air Force until 2025. Its replacement was planned to be the F-35A variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which is expected gradually begin replacing several multi-role aircraft among the program's member nations. However, due to delays in the F-35 program, all USAF F-16s will receive service life extension upgrades.

But... I have also read of US F-16 squadrons complaining that they should get their old Falcons upgraded or replaced with the new F-16V/Block 70 Viper model (since they are not getting their F-35s anytime soon), but these are for the export market. South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Bahrain are getting the F-16V with much more being offered for sale to other Middle Eastern countries.
http://www.janes.com/article/68086/advanced-f-16-looks-to-the-gulf-idex17d4

The USAF operates 1,245 F-16s with 701 with active forces, 490 with Air National Guard and 54 with Reserve. These are broken down to 1 F-16A Block 15, 197 F-16C/D Block 25, 350 F-16C/D Block 30, 51 F-16C/D Block 32, 222 F-16C/D Block 40, 174 F-16C/D Block 42, 198 F-16C/D Block 50, 52 F-16C/D Block 52. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon_operators

In the same way a more advanced multirole F-15 is offered for export instead of domestic Eagle upgrades. Saudi Arabia requested 84 F-15SA (Saudi Advanced) aircraft (touted as the most advanced production F-15 Eagle ever built), upgrade of its F-15S fleet to F-15SA standard, and related equipment and weapons through a Foreign Military Sale in October 2010. The first F-15SAs arrived at King Khalid Air Base (KKAB) in Saudi Arabia via RAF Lakenheath, on Dec. 13, 2016, the day after the Israeli received their first 5th generation F-35I.

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has officially received its first Boeing F-15SA multirole jets in a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the King Faisal Air College in Riyadh on Jan. 25, 2017.
Equipped with the APG-63V3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, a digital glass cockpit, JHMCS (Joint Helmet Mouted Cueing System), Digital Electronic Warfare System/Common Missile Warning System (DEWS/CMWS), IRST (Infra Red Search and Track) system, and able to carry a wide array of air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry, including the AIM-120C7 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) and the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, the AGM-84 SLAM-ERs, the AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) and the GBU-39 SDBs (Small Diameter Bombs) on 11 external hardpoints, the F-15SA, derived from the F-15E Strike Eagle, is the most advanced Eagle variant ever produced. https://theaviationist.com/2017/02/01/up-close-and-personal-with-the-first-saudi-f-15sa-the-most-advanced-eagle-ever-built/

The F-15SA is an incredibly capable machine, featuring some key changes from its progenitor, the F-15E Strike Eagle. These include a full fly-by-wire flight control system, APG-63V3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, digital electronic warfare and radar warning suite, missile launch detection system, updated flat-panel display cockpits with helmet mounted displays in both cockpits and an infrared search and track system, known as “Tiger Eyes,” built into the left intake targeting pod pylon. The F-15SA also features F-110- GE-129 engines, capable of putting out almost 30,000 pounds of thrust each.

Boeing reached out to tell us they’re marketing the F-15SA configuration for export to other potential users as the “F-15 Advanced.” https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-is-a-fully-armed-f-15sa-the-most-advanced-product-1715732294

- A Saudi Arabian F-15S sits on the main ramp at Nellis AFB during Red Flag

When it comes to weapons, the F-15SA can carry almost anything in the inventory. In the incredible image above showing an “extreme multi-role loadout” it packs: 2x AIM-120 AMRAAMs, 2x AIM-9X Sidewinders, 2x AGM-84 SLAM-ERs, 2x AGM-88 HARMs, 6x GBU-54/B Laser JDAMs, and 8x GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs.

The F-15SA in an air-to-air configuration includes no less than eight AIM-120 AMRAAMs and eight AIM-9X Sidewinders. This amounts to double the missile carrying capability of the F-15C or F-15E. Also note the Infrared Search and Track system mounted above the jet’s radome. This, combined with its state of the art radar’s low probability of intercept modes, advanced radar warning receiver and Link 16 data-link, allows the F-15SA to hunt for enemy aircraft in electromagnetic silence while still maintain high-situational awareness.

  >>112163
This reporter guys is pretty good. Also the Eagle is a fucking awesome plane.

The F-15 Eagle is one of the most successful modern fighters (with over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat), but her first flight was in 1972 and a 46 year-old design, no matter how upgraded, is still pretty dated.

>>112174
F-15s have been popped from the sky numerous times in aerial brawls with unmanned aircraft. Even the goatfucker iraquis knocked them out of the air. Stop just posting on /t/ and check out some of the specialty boards sometime and you might learn something
http://www.operatorchan.org/v/res/21840.html

>>112175
/v/ is IHC's board.
And the F-15 was never downed in aerial combat, to my knowledge. Getting shot down by AAA or SAMs is another thing (and no Eagles have been reported shot down by such things, either). Or losing to another fighter in a simulation or training exercise also does not count as an aerial combat loss.

In service with all nations the F-15 has an air-to-air combat record of 104 kills to 0 losses as of February 2008. The F-15's air superiority versions, the A/B/C/D models have not suffered any losses to enemy action, although some have been damaged. Over half of F-15 kills have been achieved by Israeli Air Force pilots. Some opposing air forces have claimed, in nearly a dozen cases, to have shot down the Eagle, but the claimants (mostly Russians, Syrians and Iraqis) were never able to provide any evidence for their supposed victories.
https://warisboring.com/has-anyone-ever-shot-down-an-f-15-in-air-combat/

But, on January 8, 2018, the civil war in Yemen appears to have claimed an American-made F-15 Eagle fighter. Over the weekend, Houthi rebels released a video in which they claim to have shot down a Panavia Tornado fighter, but later changed their story to an F-15. In response, the Saudi government reported the loss of a "twin seater fighter jet" to a "technical malfunction". The truth of the matter will be hard to get to in this case, with multiple sides spinning their own versions of the story. The Saudis did not disclose what kind of fighter had been shot down. Saudi Arabia operates one of the largest and most powerful air forces in the world (on paper anyway). In the category of twin-seat combat jets alone, it flies 87 American-made F-15SA multi-role strike fighters and 81 European Panavia Tornado IDS strike jets. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a14929167/yemen-rebels-shot-down-f15-tornado/

As of 8 January 2014, 123 USAF F-15 aircraft had been destroyed in mishaps, with 52 fatalities. This was a lifetime average of 2.93 aircraft destroyed per year, or 1.99 aircraft destroyed per 100,000 flight hours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_F-15_losses

Those are all mechanical failures, crashed and collisions. A very notable mid-air collision occurred in Israel on 1 May 1983: during an Israeli Air Force training dogfight, 106 Squadron F-15D 957 Markia Schakim (Sky Blazer) collided with an A-4 Skyhawk. Unknown to pilot Zivi Nedivi and his copilot, the right wing of the Eagle was sheared off roughly two feet (60 cm) from the fuselage. The F-15 entered a controllable spin after the collision. Zivi decided to attempt recovery and engaged afterburner to increase speed, allowing him to regain control of the aircraft. The pilot was able to prevent stalling and maintain control because of the lift generated by the large horizontal surface area of the fuselage, the stabilators and remaining wing areas. The F-15 landed at twice the normal speed to maintain the necessary lift, and its tailhook was torn off completely during the landing during a failed attempt at using the emergency arresting gear installed on the runway to bring the aircraft to a halt. Zivi managed to bring his F-15 to a complete stop approximately 20 ft (6 m) from the end of the runway. He was later quoted as saying "(I) probably would have ejected if I knew what had happened." The A-4 was destroyed in the collision.

Here's a Panavia Tornado IDS of the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force.
The IDS is a swing-wing two-engine fighter/bomber that can be mistaken for an F-15 Eagle. Bummer that the Eagle apparently lost her perfect no combat loss record, but that's what happens when you sell stuff to the Saudis.

>>112176
>In service with all nations the F-15 has an air-to-air combat record of 104 kills to 0 losses as of February 2008.
Of course, no losses, only "technical difficulties".

>>112177
>cheap jewish photoshoop
History channel at it's finest.

>>112175
>>112181
I see the russian piloted target drone defense force has arrived.

  >>112182
No shit.
The best testament to how the F-15 is a flying brick was when one lost a wing in a mid-air collision and the pilot was able to stabilize her, fly her and land her by going fast on afterburner. Proving the old adage that a brick will fly if you put enough thrust behind it.

Or perhaps this only shows McDonnell Douglas has been selling all their F-15 customers something they didn't need - an extra wing. The second wing should be an option on the deluxe models.

F-15 lands with one wing https://youtu.be/M359poNjvVA

>>112182
>the right wing of the Eagle was sheared off roughly two feet (60 cm)
Doesn't look anything like 60 cm to me, actually it is closer to two meters. Even if we assume nothing was broken off during stress of colliding with airstrip at full speed, it looks like only 30 % of wing area was lost.

>fly her and land her by going fast on afterburner
Even a schoolboy knows very well that it does not matter how fast the aircraft is flying, what is necessary is aerial stability, so that one side of the aircraft is providing as much lift as the other. Planes do not fly on one wing, no matter how well they are designed.

>>112177 clearly displays a footage of normal two-wing aircraft with one wing crudely painted over on film. A brainless American consumer would see the plane with one wing flying level on the TV screen and therefore will think this is how it happened in real life.

Tendency to exaggerate air superiority by adding improbable, inflated and otherwise falsified data to statistic is common and well-known propaganda tactic since the rise of flight (and especially since WW2), yet every western propagandist will completely deny any falsification and manipulation, no matter how unrealistic it is, how many factors involved, or what other people tell. A lie repeated a million times becomes truth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces

>This is a list of World War II flying aces. Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors