Lightweight Fighter
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A lightweight fighter is a fighter airplane whose goal is to have combat performance equal to that of a large, expensive fighter such as the F-15 Eagle.
John Boyd (military strategist), Harry Hillaker and Pierre Sprey formed the core of a "fighter mafia" that generated the specs for the original airplane. Central to their vision was numerous small, simple fighter aircraft were a superior solution to big, systems intensive aircraft like the F-15 Eagle that could only be built in limited numbers. The services would buy a Hi/Lo mix of expensive large fighters with high-powered radars large enough to carry several AIM-7 Sparrow missles, and small fighters good enough to handle daylight interception and bombing missions.
In January 1972, the Lightweight Fighter Program solicited design specifications from several American manufacturers. Participants were told to tailor their specifications toward the goal of developing a true air superiority lightweight fighter. Three proposals that looked especially promising were submitted by Boeing, Northrop and General Dynamics. Ultimately, the Air Force funded the construction of two prototypes each from Northrop and the General Dynamics, Ft. Worth Division (sold to Lockheed Martin in 1993 and now called Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
With the guidelines drawn, Northrop produced the twin-engine YF-17, using breakthrough aerodynamic technologies and two high-thrust engines. The Navy would adopt a larger verion of this airplane, the F/A-18 Hornet. General Dynamics countered with the compact F-16, built around a higher thrust single F100 engine; the same engine also used by the twin engine F-15 Eagle.
The rest of the story
Somewhat ironically, many were not satisfied with the range and payload of the Hornet, so a larger version, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was developed and put into service. This version of the Hornet is larger and heavier than the F-4 Phantom, the original big fighter, and is comparable in cost, thrust, weight and fuel capacity to the F-15 Eagle, the original reason for creating a lightweight fighter. It is also replacing the F-14 Tomcat, the original high-end fighter.
External links
- http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/1991/articles/jul_91/july2a_91.html
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