View allAll Photos Tagged generaldynamics
TNI AU (Indonesian Air Force) TS-1611 General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon, a Block-15 of SkU 3 - Pitch Black 2016
F-111E. C.N. E-224. 55th FS from RAF Upper Heyford. Nicknamed "Heartbreaker" and one of the last three F-111's to depart RAF Upper Heyford 11 December, 1994. In 2013 on display at Robins AFB, Georgia. Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Reprint Scan) Date / Location unknown.
When first flown at Edwards Air Force Base on January 20, 1974, the TF-16 was the most advanced fighter in the world. The aircraft in the photograph was flown extensively in the test support role while assigned to the Test Wing. During its career, it was used as chase aircraft for the first release of a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from a strategic bomber and also chased the final test mission of the Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM). (Text adapted from a sign at the site.)
F-111E. C.N. E-222. Photo taken at RAF Mildenhall. Withdrawn from service to AMARC 26 June, 1992 as AA FV0107. Departed AMARC to HVF West Yard (Scrapped probaly in June 2012). Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Reprint Scan)
USAF F-16C 90-0812 c/n CC-12 14th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Wing, 5 Air Force based at Misawa Air Base, Japan - Pitch Black 2016
F-111E. C.N. E-242. 55th TFS from RAF Upper Heyford. Photo taken at RAF Mildenhall, May 1971. Withdrawn from service to AMARC 16 October, 1995 as AA FV0211. Departed AMARC 30 May, 2012 to HVF West LLC Gov't Demil, (scrapped probably in June 2012). Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Reprint Scan)
Keychain, General Dynamics; Clear with blue and white General Dynamics in center, squareImage of an object in the SDASM Curatorial Collection--Please tag these photos so information can be recorded.---Note: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.)--Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
TNI AU (Indonesian Air Force) TS-1610 General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon c/n 1A-6, a Block-15 of SkU 3. TS stands for Tempur Sergap (Fighter intercept) Squadron - Pitch Black 2016
The age and vulnerability of the EB-66 Destroyer electronic countermeasures aircraft—both of which had been proven with fatal results over Vietnam—led the USAF to begin considering a replacement in 1967. At first, the USAF considered adopting the US Navy’s EA-6B Prowler, which was just coming into service. However, the Prowler was not supersonic, and the USAF wanted an aircraft that could survive penetrating heavy enemy air defenses. As a result, the USAF settled on the F-111A Aardvark in 1972: the aircraft was proven, it would be cheaper than developing an entirely new aircraft, the F-111A was already slated for replacement by the F-111D, and it had all the range and speed the USAF required.
Though the F-111 was built by General Dynamics and the conversion work would be handled there, Grumman had developed the ALQ-99 jamming suite that would equip the EF-111A. Indeed, the EF-111 would have the same football-shaped reciever antenna of the EA-6B mounted atop the tail, though because of the variable-sweep wing box, transmitters could not be carried in the fuselage; instead, they were moved to a ventral “canoe.” All bombing equipment was removed, along with the internal gun, and flight controls were wholly moved to the pilot’s station. Though the EF-111 could in theory carry AIM-9 Sidewinders for self-defense, it rarely would, nor could it carry antiradar missiles to allow it to operate in the Wild Weasel role. The EF-111 would be wholly dedicated to ECM support, both in standoff jamming and accompanying strike packages directly to the target.
The EF-111 first flew in March 1977 and was initially nicknamed “Electric Fox,” but this was officially changed to Raven in 1983, when it entered service, though crews referred to it as the “Spark ‘Vark.” It was first used in combat during Operation Eldorado Canyon in 1986 against Libya, Operation Just Cause against Panama, and then against Iraq in the First Gulf War of 1991. Only one EF-111 was lost in combat, and strike packages with EF-111 support never lost an aircraft to SAM missiles during the war. Ravens would continue in service after this conflict, seeing use over Bosnia, supporting no-fly zone patrols over Iraq, and finally in Operation Desert Fox retaliatory airstrikes in 1998.
This was the last deployment of the EF-111, and the USAF retired its last Ravens in May 1998, ending not only the F-111 series in USAF service, but also dedicated USAF tactical ECM aircraft. Since the retirement of the Raven, the USAF has relied on US Navy and Marine Corps EA-6Bs, with a number of USAF crews being crosstrained into EA-6B crews.
Dad got this picture of a 366th TFW EF-111 at an airshow at Nellis AFB, in 1985. This picture shows the ALQ-99 "football" emitter atop the tail, along with wedge-shaped antennas that are also part of the jamming suite. The EA-6B Prowler has a similar tail setup. The Raven carried its own unique camouflage of light ghost gray over camouflage gray. This aircraft, 66-0018, wears the "MO" tailcode of Mountain Home AFB and a Tactical Air Command shield; the yellow strips are glowstrips for night flying. This particular aircraft would go on to serve in Operation Desert Storm, would retire around 1998, and be scrapped in 2010.
PictionID:43057243 - Catalog:14_003917 - Title:MA-6 Details: Simulated Flight of MA-6 with Astronaut Scott Carpenter 01/17/1962 - Filename:14_003917.TIF - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Station in space. Automatic robots are being used to service nuclear powered space station. This is a gleam in the engineer's eyes today, a reality tomorrow.
The Next Fifty Years in Space
by Erik Bergaust
Macmillan, 1964
----------
A General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon of the 421st Fighter Squadron "Black Widows" from Hill AFB turns tightly as part of the simulated airfield attack at the 2014 Warriors Over The Wasatch Open House and Air Show held at Hill AFB.
Bracelet (2), General Dynamics service award bracelets, (1) for 25 years of service (1) for 30 years; Both are gold with black serive charm and small diamond at top, 30 year is slightly largerImage of an object in the SDASM Curatorial Collection--Please tag these photos so information can be recorded.---Note: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.)--Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
USAF F-16D Fighting Falcon s/n 90-0835 of the 416th Flight Test Squadron, fires a HARM missile over the China Lake test range, 24 Sep 2000. U.S. Air Force Photo by Tom Reynolds.
PictionID:54636633 - Catalog:14_035124 - Title:GD/Astronautics Testing Details: Testing of Zero G Test Vehicle Date: 08/11/1961 - Filename:14_035124.tif - - ---- Images from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
F-16A Block 15E. C.N. 61-404. 186th FS at Great Falls. Withdrawn from service to Joe Foss Field, Sioux Falls around October 2002 for display. Moved by flatbed truck to Tyndall AFB to be put on display in front of the Killey Center for Homeland Operations around 13 September, 2012. Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Kodachrome Slide dated August 2003)
F-111F. C.N. 84. 48th TFW Commanders Jet. Withdrawn from service to AMARC 8 January 1996 as AA FV0248. Was not scrapped with the rest of the F-111 fleet in June 2012. Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Reprint Scan)
Willard Martin (b. 1917) held various jobs before he was hired by Convair San Diego as a metal worker. For the next 30 years, Martin worked at Convair, eventually serving much of his career as the Operations General Supervisor, a task that involved supervising experiment department operations, engineering test lap support, model shop operations, mockup and wind tunnel support. In addition, he managed all instrumentation fabrication, installation and field support operations for the Cruise Missile Program and others. In 1976, he was elected by members of the National Management Association, General Dynamics Convair Chapter, as Director of Public Relations from 1976 to 1977.
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
What would become arguably the most successful fighter aircraft since World War II started modestly, and like many late 20th-Century fighter designs, as a result of lessons learned in the Vietnam War. Among those lessons was that large, heavy fighters were not always the answer: the F-4 Phantom II, while a superlative aircraft, had often found itself outclassed by smaller, more nimble North Vietnamese MiG-17s and MiG-21s. The call for the US Air Force to develop its own lightweight fighter was spearheaded by fighter pilot and air combat theorist John Boyd. At first, Boyd’s proposals were dismissed by the USAF, who feared losing funding for the F-15 Eagle then in development. Boyd and others were able to convince the USAF of the usefulness of a light, cheap fighter as a complement to the heavy, expensive F-15, and finally the USAF agreed to issue a requirement for a Lightweight Fighter (LWF)—though with no guarantee that it would actually buy it.
Both General Dynamics and Northrop responded with designs, which would become the YF-16 and YF-17 Cobra. The first YF-16 was rolled out in December 1973, and first flew in January of the next year—accidentally, as the prototype veered off the runway and the test pilot felt it safer to takeoff rather than try to steer it back. The YF-16 won the flyoff against the YF-17, and the USAF selected it to go into service as the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Simultaneously, the YF-16 won a flyoff for the Multinational Fighter; the MNF was planned to be the successor to a number of aircraft in NATO service, and the competition between the YF-16, YF-17, France’s Mirage F.1M, and the SEPECAT Jaguar was fierce. Once selected, production of the F-16 would be vastly expanded, with it not only being produced in the United States, but also in the Netherlands and Belgium as well (to be followed later by Turkey and South Korea). In a short time, the F-16 had come a long way.
Production F-16s differed from the prototype by being slightly larger and heavier, though the initial production batch retained the “small tail” tailplanes of the prototype. Though heftier than the prototype, the F-16 retained the basis of Boyd’s ideal lightweight fighter: it was extremely maneuverable, to the point that a number of early F-16s crashed as the aircraft could take more than the pilot. Its maneuverability is due both to a favorable thrust-weight ratio and its deliberately unstable design: the F-16 was one of the first fighters to employ a wholly-fly-by-wire control system, with the hydraulic controls of older fighters being replaced by microprocessors controlled by a central computer. The microprocessors are able to make the dozens of decisions per second required by the design. For this reason, the F-16 is also known as the “Electric Jet.” General Dynamics had attempted to mitigate these effects on the pilot by reclining the ejection seat backwards and moving the control stick to the side. The pilot also has superb visibility due to the F-16’s bubble canopy.
The Fighting Falcon’s baptism of fire would not take long. Israel, which had been among the first to purchase the F-16, scored the type’s first air-to-air kill over Lebanon in 1981, as well as its first significant strike mission, the raid on Iraq’s Osirak reactor. In the following year, Israeli F-16s scored possibly as many as 30 victories over Syrian MiGs during the 1982 Lebanon War. Pakistani F-16s were to see limited action during the Soviet-Afghan War, shooting down 10 Afghani and Soviet aircraft that strayed into Pakistan’s airspace. For the United States, the F-16 would see its first action in the First Gulf War, though here the USAF used the Falcon’s large payload in strike missions; USAF F-16s saw no aerial action during this conflict.
By the early 1990s, the USAF relegated its F-16A models to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, reequipping its units with later mark F-16Cs. Many of the ANG’s F-16As were upgraded to ADF standard. The last USAF F-16A left service around 2000; aircraft not placed in storage at AMARC in Arizona have been sold to other nations, while some are scheduled for conversion to QF-16 drones.
F-16As are among the most prolific fighters in the world, in service worldwide, flown by ten nations, three of which are in NATO. These aircraft (save those flown by Venezuela) have been significantly upgraded to F-16 MLU (Mid-Life Upgrade) standard, making them equivalent to F-16Cs. Besides Israeli and Pakistani kills in the type, a Dutch F-16AM shot down a Serbian MiG-29 during the Kosovo War in 1999. Other NATO F-16AMs have seen service over Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. These older models of F-16s will remain in service until probably 2020 at least, to be replaced by the F-35A Lightning II.
Dad took this beautiful picture of Thunderbird One in the Thunderbirds' home hangar at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The aircraft is as spotless as the floor! The name on the canopy is Lieutenant Colonel Roger Riggs, who was team leader for the 1986-1987 season.
J-879 is a General-Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. © Bert Visser
PictionID:54636755 - Catalog:14_035134 - Title:Atlas Centaur Testing Details: Centaur Nose Cone Venting Prior to Test Date: 11/29/1961 - Filename:14_035134.tif - - ---- Images from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
General Dynamics F-16C "Fighting Falcon" 91-0376 (SW)
0376 (MSN CC-80)
1993: TOS USAF.
1993: 363rd Fighter Wing, Shaw AFB, SC
1994: 78th FS, 20th FW, Shaw AFB, SC.
1994: 79th FS, 20th FW, Shaw AFB, SC.
1999: Deployed to Aviano AB, Italy for combat missions over Yugoslavia during Operation Allied Force
2003: 77th FS, 20th FW, Shaw AFB, SC.
2012: Deployed to the Middle East to fly combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
2015: Active with 13th Fighter Squadron/35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base, Japan.
91-0376
SW
F-16CM-50-CF
CC-74
77th FS
Active
Dec 2006
Oct 2020
'20 FW'
Willard Martin (b. 1917) held various jobs before he was hired by Convair San Diego as a metal worker. For the next 30 years, Martin worked at Convair, eventually serving much of his career as the Operations General Supervisor, a task that involved supervising experiment department operations, engineering test lap support, model shop operations, mockup and wind tunnel support. In addition, he managed all instrumentation fabrication, installation and field support operations for the Cruise Missile Program and others. In 1976, he was elected by members of the National Management Association, General Dynamics Convair Chapter, as Director of Public Relations from 1976 to 1977.
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
F-111F. C.N. 55. 494th TFS at RAF Lakenheath. Flew in Operation Eldorado Canyon. Withdrawn from service to AMARC 18 October, 1995 as AA FV0216. Scrapped in June 2012. Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Kodachrome Slide)
88103253 :Piction ID--Tomahawk missile models---Please tag these photos so information can be recorded.---- Digitization of this image made possible by a grant from NEH: NEH and the San Diego Air and Space Museum