Hobby Master HA38009 | F-16I Sufa "Operation Outside the Box", No.470, 253 Squadron, 2022

General Background:

The F-16 Fighting Falcon was produced by General Dynamics who became Lockheed who then merged with Martin Marietta to become Lockheed Martin. The F-16 entered service in January 1979 as a multi-role jet fighter that evolved into an all-weather multi-role aircraft capable of sustaining 9-g turns. The F-16 is relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain so the U.S. and 25 other countries added it to their inventory. The Fighting Falcon is referred to by its pilots as the “Viper” and will remain in USAF service until 2025.

The Aircraft:

With tension in the Middle East always being very high and with the thought of Syria having nuclear capabilities the Israelis decided they had to do something to prevent this. So 30 minutes prior to midnight on September 5, 2007 8 Israeli aircraft from Squadron 69, Squadron 119 and 253 departed for the al-Kibar nuclear facility. After flying over Lebanon and the full length of Syria the aircraft located the objective and dropped 17 tons of PGBs on the site. At 2:30 AM September 6 the target was confirmed destroyed without Israeli losses.

Specifications for the Lockheed Martin F-16I Sufa
Role – Multi-purpose fighter
Power Plant – 1 x P&W F100-PW-229 engine with maximum thrust of 29,100 lbs.
Range – More than 2,100 km
Speed
High Altitude – Mach 2+
Low Altitude – 1,440 kph
Weight
Empty – 10,000 kg
Normal Combat w/ Full Fuel and Weapons Load – 12.8 tons
Maximum Take-Off / Landing – 23.5 tons
Dimensions
Length – 14.93 m
Wing Span – 9.45 m
Height – 5.1 m
Armament
Missiles
Rafael Python 5
AMRAM (AIM-120)
Lightning Targeting and Navigation Pod
LANTIRN Navigation Pod
JDAM bomb