- Yes
- No
Description: The story of the F16’s in Italy began before 2000 in the 90’s, when Italy had in service a lot of F104 S, ASA, and ASA M that were planned to be replaced with the Eurofighter Thypoon, but the project and the construction of the EFA were very slow, and for that reason Italy asked some nations to lease some fighter aircraft to stop the gap between the withdrawal of the Starfighter and the entry into service of the Eurofighter. The first nation was Britain, which agreed to lease 24 Tornado ADV aircraft. When the Leasibg program ended, it was intended to lease the ADV for 10 additional years, but the cost was too high, and the project was cancelled. The second nation that accepted the leasing projects for Italy was the USA. In 2003, a contract was signed for 5 years (plus 5 more additional years if needed) for 34 F16 Falcon. The program was worth a total of 777 million dollars, and the estimated duration was 10 years. Were delivered a total of 1 BLock 1B + 26 A Blocks (15 ADF) + 1 Block 15 B + 2 Block 5 B + 1 Block 10 B + 4 Block 10A. This aircraft in the specifical was the only Block 10 B with the classification MM 7269. It was delivered first to the USA on August 25, 1981, and it remained in service in the USAF until 1996, when it was stored in the AMARC on the Davis-Monthad. The aircraft stayed in that place until the Peace Ceasar program, and after the start of it, it was refitted. It flew again on April 7, 2003, and it was the first completed F16 for the AMI (Italian Air Force). It was delivered in the same year to the twenty-third group of the fifth flock, where it remained until 2005, when it was transferred to the thirty-seventh flock at Trapani. In that squadron, it got structural damage that didn’t allow him to fly anymore, and those problems were never solved. It was semi-abandoned in that base until 2015, when it was disassembled to be moved to the Cervia Air Base and then reassembled and refitted. Nowadays, it is on Cervia Air Base as a gate guard. After the story of this aircraft, let’s move on to its characteristics: the engine was the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 with a total of 127 kn of thrust that gave the aircraft a maximum speed of 2156 km/h and a maximum service ceiling of 18000 meters. The radar is the AN/ANPG 66, and it was able to carry a total of 60 countermeasures.About the armaments, it was able to carry the same weapons as the F16 A Block 10 already in the game.
Why it should be in the game: Considering that Italy has very limited number of CAS and multyrole aircraft in the tech tree, this one can be a very good option to solve that problem. It will be also very easy to add since only the cockpit will be changed from the Normal Block 10 A.**
Carapteristics:
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Armaments:
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20 mm Vulcan rotary cannon
6x AIM9L
6X aim9l/I1
6x AGM65 Maverik
4x GBU8
19x MK82
19x MK82 snakeye
4x MK84 LDGP Air
4x MK84
114x Mighty Mouse rokets dispenser
6x BLU27
Big thanks to @S__bastienZ88for all the Help!
Sources:
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F-16.net - The ultimate F-16, F-35 and F-22 reference
http://www.vmas.it/velivoli/f-16/7269/7269.html
Rivive all'aeroporto militare di Cervia l'ultimo F-16 come "gate guardian" - L'eco della pista
F-16.net - The ultimate F-16, F-35 and F-22 reference
https://www.aviation-report.com/gli-f-16-viper-dell-aeronautica-militare-italiana/
aab.jpg • f-16 photography
Un F-16 ritorna a Cervia! - PSC - Piti Spotter Club Verona - Aviation Enthusiasts and Photographers
Pictures
Book Coccarde Tricolori Speciale 7 (Riccardo Nicoli) (RN Publishing)
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Imagines
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After the rework in 2015, the aircraft was signed with the wrong number (68 istead of 69)
