I’m not saying that the F-16 was ever carrier qualified, I’m saying that the Navy considered the YF-16 as one of the possible planes for it’s new fighter. They ended up going with the YF-17 design, which then after modification, entered service as the F-18.
From GlobalSecurity:
So, the YF-16 WAS made carrier ready, which is not the same as saying that the F-16 in service with the USAF ever was.
I interpret that quote differently. I take it to say the VFAX was based on the YF-16 design but was never built and that the YF-16 was never designed for carrier use.
Vought helped GD design several navalized versions of the YF-16, but IIRC none made it further than just the design stages. I don’t recall any actually being produced or converted to Navy spec (other than of course, the adversery F16 but still, those were not carrier capable)
Please refer to the F-16 as a Viper, from now on. Falcon? Ecch.
Slightly off topic… but what’s the deal with the F22, or YF22? Does it exist? Will it ever exist? Is it the be-all and end-all of modern fighter technology?
It certainly does exist… you can see it in the Air Force commercials.
Yes, it pretty much is the current be-all and end-all of modern fighter technology. Stealthy, agile, fast…
http://www.f-22raptor.com/index.php
Going into active service in 2005. First one delivered for operational testing last October.
There’s a big difference between a “fantasy plane” - the Su-37 counts here since it’s just a prototype that Sukhoi built but the Russian air force can’t afford - and a fighter plane in pre-production that will see service a few years in the future.
The F-35 will go into front-line service with the USAF, USN, USMC, RAF, and several other nations’ air forces. Contracts have been signed, Lockheed-Martin is ramping up production, and plans for phasing the aircraft into the inventory have been put in place. Same story with the F-22 - three Raptors are currently in the inventory, and the first operational squadron is scheduled to come on line in two years. If I recall correctly, plans are for the 1st Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB to trade in its F-15C’s for F-22’s first, to be followed by other (former) F-15 units. Oh, and it looks like it’s the F/A-22 now - current mission profile is to achieve air superiority like the F-15C, then fly in the fighter/bomber role with external bomb loads kind of like an F-15E, with this mission to be supplemented by the F-35.
The Su-37, on the other hand, might see service somewhere, but probably won’t. Kind of like the F-20 Tigershark - the righ plane at the wrong time, and a big reason that most aerospace companies wait until they’re asked before they build a prototype for a new military aircraft.
I say the F-18 is better than the F-14 by…four?
But the F-18 doesn’t have the option to turn into a giant robot, now, does it?