F-16 Aircraft Database

A full-systems F-16A which was used for avionics systems testing and reliability and maintainability testing in the F-16 FSD and FSD follow-on test programs.

The nose was modified to house the APG-65 radar which was more powerful. It is the radar used in the F/A-18.

To General Dynamics at Fort Worth for modification work.

Used for electromagnetic hardness ground testing at Kirtland AFB.

To General Dynamics at Fort Worth for modification work (AFTI).

Dorsal Spine
In 1982 the 6th Full-Scale Development (FSD) aircraft was modified as Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) testbed, which included the canards from the YF-16 CCV and a dorsal spine. The dorsal spine would eventually make it to some production model F-16s. First program was the Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) in which a total of 108 flights were executed untill July of 1983.

To General Dynamics at Fort Worth for modification work.

The second program within the AFTI framework was the Automated Maneuvering Attack System (AMAS) which lasted untill April of 1987.

To General Dynamics at Fort Worth for modification work.

Low-level Battlefield Interdiction Tests
In the late eighties, the Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 testbed (formerly the 6th FDS aircraft) was fitted with a dorsal spine, wing-root mounted Lantirn-style pods, and FLIR turrets on the nose. It was also upgraded with an F-16C block 25 wing and with block 40 F-16C features such as APG-68 radar and a LANTIRN interface. It was used as a CAS testbed in support of the proposed A-16, testing low-level battlefield interdiction techniques such as automatic target handoff-systems. This program lasted untill January of 1992.

To Lockheed at Fort Worth for modification work.

Used in the Talon Sword Bravo test program which demonstrated cooperative engagement techniques where the aircraft fires at a target based on targeting information datalinked from a distant sensor. The weapon principally investigated was the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM).

To Lockheed at Fort Worth for modification work.

Used jointly by NASA and the USAF at Edwards AFB, California for the Embedded Global Positioning and Inertial Navigation System (EGI) program, including evaluation of the reliability of GPS in jamming environments.

Used in the Automated Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS) program.

To Lockheed at Fort Worth for modification work (J/IST).

NASA dropped out of the AFTI testing program and the aircraft continued to be tested by the USAF. This includes testing for the "Power-by-Wire" technology and testing for the F-35 program under the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Subsystem Technologies (J/IST) program.

Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio located in the experimental aircraft hanger. It was flown into the museum on February 11th, 2001 having been retired just the previous month on January 9th, 2001.