Lockheed Martin (General Dynamics) F-16N Fighting Falcon
The F-16N grew out of a requirement by the US Navy for an advanced adversary dissimilar fighter trainer to replace aging A-4E/F Skyhawks. Using the Block 30 F-16C/D as a basis, the F-16N was downgraded, as it was not anticipated to ever see actual combat. The APG-68 radar was replaced with the APG-66, the internal structure was strengthened to better handle the stress of low-level manuevering, and while the F-16N can carry Sidewinders, it is not equipped to fire or drop any other ordnance, and the M61 Vulcan gatling cannon is removed.
18 F-16Ns and four two-seat TF-16Ns were delivered beginning in 1987 to Top Gun, the US Navy’s fighter training school. With the temporary reduction in aggressor squadrons during the mid-1990s and due to wing cracking, the F-16N force was retired in 1995, though the Navy has since bought ex-Pakistani F-16C/Ds as aggressors.
F-16N BuNo 163277 entered service with VF-126 (appropriately nicknamed "Bandits") at NAS Miramar, California in 1989, flying as an adversary for Top Gun. When VF-126 was disestablished in 1994, it was assigned directly to the Naval Fighter Weapons School (the actual name for Top Gun), also at Miramar. It was retired in 1995 and donated to the Palm Springs Air Museum in 1997.
Of the two F-16Ns we saw on our May 2021 California trip, both were painted in this Swedish-style splinter camouflage. The Navy was inspired by the Saab Viggen's camouflage, and though it never intended to go to war with Sweden, it was applied on a few of the F-16Ns for evaluation. 163277 has faded in the California sun, to the point where its NFWS markings are virtually nonexistent; PSAM very likely intends to refinish the aircraft in the near future.
Lockheed Martin (General Dynamics) F-16N Fighting Falcon
The F-16N grew out of a requirement by the US Navy for an advanced adversary dissimilar fighter trainer to replace aging A-4E/F Skyhawks. Using the Block 30 F-16C/D as a basis, the F-16N was downgraded, as it was not anticipated to ever see actual combat. The APG-68 radar was replaced with the APG-66, the internal structure was strengthened to better handle the stress of low-level manuevering, and while the F-16N can carry Sidewinders, it is not equipped to fire or drop any other ordnance, and the M61 Vulcan gatling cannon is removed.
18 F-16Ns and four two-seat TF-16Ns were delivered beginning in 1987 to Top Gun, the US Navy’s fighter training school. With the temporary reduction in aggressor squadrons during the mid-1990s and due to wing cracking, the F-16N force was retired in 1995, though the Navy has since bought ex-Pakistani F-16C/Ds as aggressors.
F-16N BuNo 163277 entered service with VF-126 (appropriately nicknamed "Bandits") at NAS Miramar, California in 1989, flying as an adversary for Top Gun. When VF-126 was disestablished in 1994, it was assigned directly to the Naval Fighter Weapons School (the actual name for Top Gun), also at Miramar. It was retired in 1995 and donated to the Palm Springs Air Museum in 1997.
Of the two F-16Ns we saw on our May 2021 California trip, both were painted in this Swedish-style splinter camouflage. The Navy was inspired by the Saab Viggen's camouflage, and though it never intended to go to war with Sweden, it was applied on a few of the F-16Ns for evaluation. 163277 has faded in the California sun, to the point where its NFWS markings are virtually nonexistent; PSAM very likely intends to refinish the aircraft in the near future.