Posted on 05/26/2010 12:31:09 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The U.S. Navy has refurbished a surplus U.S. Air Force National Guard F-16 flight simulator to help keep its F-16 pilots in shape for using F-16s to train navy pilots (in F-18s) how to best deal with Chinese, and other potential enemy, pilots. The navy uses F-16s because these aircraft are best able to replicate the performance of likely high end enemy fighters. That's because Russia and China have used the F-16 as the model for most of their latest fighters (the Russian MiG-29 and Chinese J-10). The navy bought 26 of a special model (F-16N) of the aircraft in the late 1980s. But in the 1990s, the navy retired its F-16Ns, because of metal fatigue, and had to wait nearly a decade before it got sixteen more. The refurbished simulator had its cockpit modified to reflect the one the navy F-16s use. The navy also uses F-5s to simulate lower performance enemy fighters. Two years ago, the navy completed a six year effort to buy and modify 44 F-5E fighters from Switzerland. The U.S. uses F-5s, a 12 ton fighter roughly similar to the MiG-21. The F-5 is normally armed with two 20mm cannon, and three tons of missiles and bombs. The U.S. Navy modified and refurbished the Swiss F-5s so their performance better matched that of Russian or Chinese aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
F-16 ping.
Liberals Want a level playing field. Even in war.
Barry wants to hurt America in every way possible, he doesn't want a level playing field, he wants us to get our butts kicked in the next conflict.
Anti-American traitors are like that.
Top Gun the movie had F-14’s on our side.
ping
Interesting writing style. My eyes hurt.
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OK, this article is wrong. “Top Gun” has not returned. Those words denote the long-dead Naval Fighter Weapons School, which was merged with the Navy Strike school to make the newer Strike and Air Warfare School. Everything was moved to Nevada. Top Gun... an institution that did one thing and one thing only... hone air to air combat skills in Navy fighter pilots... hasn’t returned, not even close.
Dissimilar ACM training slowed down but never stopped. But it ceased to be Top Gun.
Thanks for pointing this out.Its important.
:)
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