f-16 down in iraq
I heard about this many times today, but have not heard many details. I did hear a nastly rumor that the pilot was being dragged around Somolia-style, but I have found nothing to that effect. Here's the links I can find, more to come as the situation is clarified. No where am I able to find anything about the pilot. Our prayers are with him, his family, and his unit.
Al-Jazeera story
Muthana Shakir, an Iraqi journalist in Baghdad told Al Jazeera: "We got credible news saying at 2pm on Monday a US F-16 warplane was downed in al-Garma neighbourhood near the western Iraqi city of Falluja."Fox News
"The warplane was downed over arable lands. Witnesses confirmed that the plane was fired on by gunmen's rockets when it was flying on low altitude."
William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, said he would be surprised if the jet was shot down as the F-16's fly very fast and have not encountered any weapons capable of taking them down in Iraq.
There is no such thing as an F-16CG boys. That doesn't take much research. Google that stuff.....
WaPo makes the same mistake.
Apparently the Viper crash isn't that big of a deal. I cannot find much on it. Stay tuned.
posted by chic[k]pilot @ 5:55 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
F-16CG means it is a block 30 or 40, probably with a targeting pod, which primarly drops JDAMs and LGBs. This differentiates them from F-16CJs that carry an HTS (HARM Targeting System) pod and fire HARM missiles.
Yes, there was a proposed F-16CG, but Congress did not want a "new" aircraft to affect the funding for the F-22. So it is just simply the block 40 like you say with a LANTIRN targeting system. Just because an aircraft has CG on its tail does not mean that is its designation. Reference here
Reports this morning, (Wednesday), are that the emergency beacon didn't go off, indicating the pilot didn't eject, and may have been dead on the scene before his body was dragged off. Of course, this from a TV news broadcast, so the veracity is suspect.
CP, please stay on top of this and let us know what you hear.
There is such a thing as the F-16CG, and we have a good number of them. But the identifying letters on the tail have nothing to do with its version or block, just to which wing the aircraft was assigned.
The CG designation refers to a Block 40 aircraft. Block 30s would be known as your basic 'C' model. I have flown both of these aircraft.
DoD's latest official release is here: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=10229
I think the confusion in the article comes from the fact that the a/c was from Cannon AFB, ergo the tail flash would have "CC" on it. Easily confused with CG.
FYI, F-16s come in a lot of flavors that are broken down into two broad groups A models and C models. A's are the older flavor, and the B model is merely the two seat version. USAF really doen't have any A's anymore, except in test wings. C's are the newer versions and have D's that are two seaters.
Within these broad groups are "Blocks" which had various upgrades to avionics and engines. Won't get into the A's, but for the C's they were broken down into three subgroups (USAF versions, there are also some specialized versions sold to foreign countries):
F-16C, basic C model--Blocks 25,30,32 All three of these blocks are now virtually identical, only difference is the engine with the Block 25/32 equipped with Pratt & Whitten (PW) engines & the 30 with a GE
F-16CG--Block 40,42 Originally designed to be the "night fighter" with LANTIRN (can't remember what LANTIRN stood for, something like Low Altitude Navigation and InfraRed Night or something like that) pods. LANTIRN pods allowed them to fly low at night on TFR (Terrain Following Radar) and shoot lasers at targets for laser guided bombs (LGBs) 40 has GE engine, 42 has PW.
F-16CJ--Block 50,52 Designed to be the modern wild weasle (SAM hunter) with the HTS (HARM Targeting System) pod to find enemy radars, and equipped with HARM (High-speed Anti Radiation Missiles) to shred enemy radars.
Originally, F-16Cs could only carry dumb bombs, CG had LANTIRN pods and were the only F-16s that could drop & guide LGBs and the CJs were the only ones that could carry HTS pods. But over the last decade they've pretty much merged all the Blocks. C's now carry laser pods & laser bombs, CGs & CJs have upgraded their cockpits so that there are few differences and they now can do each others mission. Gets kinda confusing as the a/c evolves.
Hope that clears up more than it confuses!!!
Later
[url=http://rastimores.net/][img]http://rastimores.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]2009 software price, [url=http://rastimores.net/]educational software store[/url]
[url=http://rastimores.net/][/url] stock purchase software filemaker pro v6 troubleshoot
buy photoshop 3 [url=http://rastimores.net/]egg software store[/url] soft sales software
[url=http://akreoplastoes.net/]photoshop cs3 download for mac[/url] create educational software
[url=http://rastimores.net/]non profit adobe software[/url] Suite X4 Retail Price
buy used computer software [url=http://akreoplastoes.net/]discount oem software limited[/url][/b]
Post a Comment
<< Home