IAF F-16B Block 5 Netz Mod 1987 - Netz B “Mod” - 1987
- Yes.
- No.
This suggestion is for the F-16B Block 5 Netz during the later 1980s in IAF service after it underwent upgrades and modifications. It’s a tandem seat trainer variant of the Falcon used by the Israeli Air Force. This suggestion represents it in 1987-1992, after it received additional countermeasures, access to later weaponry such as the Python 3 AAM, possibly JDAMs (depending on the time period this aircraft will represent ingame), and new Block 15 Elevators.
- 12.7
- 13.0
- 13.3
- 13.7
- I Voted No.
- As a Researchable vehicle
- As a Squadron vehicle
- As a Premium vehicle
- As a Event vehicle
- I Voted No.
History:
This section will be a bit shorter in describing the acquisition and earlier history of the IAF F-16s as it’s been previously highlighted in my other suggestion for the F-16B Block 5 in its earlier usage within the IAF. You can read about it here:
In 1978, Israel was looking for a new top of the line fighter jet to fill the needs of its Air Force. Ultimately the decision landed upon acquiring the F-16s and F-15s. Later that year they announced plans to acquire F-16A/B aircraft through the Peace Marble 1 program, and ultimately they ended up being of the earlier Block 1-10 configurations. It’s worth noting that in War Thunder these would be functionally identical as the differences between Block 1,5, and 10 aircraft are not able to be represented ingame, aside from visual and namesake differences.
As mentioned previously for the namesake of the aircraft suggested here, the F-16Bs acquiring by Israel from the Peace Marble 1 program were of the Block 5 configuration, unlike other variations of F-16As they also acquired. These aircraft were delivered and entered IAF service in July of 1980. Notably the F-16B has less internal fuel storage and weighs more than a F-16A by default when empty.
Sometime around 1987, modifications were made to most Netz aircraft currently in service with the IAF. This was likely due to lessons learned from the 1982 Lebanon War which resulted in the large deployment of the F-16s to great success. During the conflict the Israeli F-16s were credited with 44 air to air kills while suffering no losses whatsoever. However it seemed the IAF determined changes needed to take place to ensure to continued effectiveness and efficiency of the Netz, this resulted in an undocumented program to upgrade the Netz which is presumed to have taken place in 1987. The upgrade is known to have included 2 new changes made to the aircraft, which entailed new AN/ALE-40 Chaff Dispensers, and new Elevators derived from F-16 Block 15 aircraft with a 30% greater surface area. It is possible other changes took place, but any other changes are not extremely and cannot be determined from images of the aircraft as these known modifications have been.
These modifications have been observed on multiple Netz A aircraft. Photographic proof depicts some Netz A aircraft past 1987 as only having new Chaff Dispensers, others only having new Elevators, some having both, and some having no modifications made at all. What’s lesser known is that the F-16B Netz also received these modification in their service, as some received newer elevators. Even lesser known is that they also received new Chaff Dispensers, however they only received them on the underside of the aircraft next to the ventral fins, and not on the tails of them as some F-16As had received.
The new Chaff dispensers have been photographed on a few occasions, and most often they were seen during their use by Top Aces, a private company which acquired the aircraft after they left IAF service. I’ll delve into the Netz history serving with the Top Aces another time (I plan to make a later suggestion for the Netz A and Netz B late into IAF service where they notably had later avionics and weaponry such as the Python 4 AAM), but for now we’ll focus on them being seen with the dispenser serving with them, specially Netz B No.17 with tail identification of N847.
In the video shown below, at a timestamp of 12:13, the video creator is receiving a tour around F-16B No.17 when he points out the new dispensers under the aircraft and the individual involved with Top Aces describes the addition of the dispensers in IAF service. The entire video is linked below:
This has also been observed by someone at “The Aviationist”. These images below were provided from their article linked at the end, and they claim these images are from a F-16B Netz. It notably has larger Block 15 Elevators, as well as the two Chaff dispensers located next to the ventral fins.
In Short:
This Aircraft would be a F-16B for the Israeli air tree, that would have double the countermeasure count of the standard F-16A/B, New Python 3 AAMs (as they were present in the IAF inventory at the time and compatible and tested of IAF Netz aircraft), new Block 15 Elevators, and possibly access to GBU-31 JDAMs as seen on the premium F-16A Netz “Mod” ingame. Given the A variant of this aircraft is a premium, this could prove to be a TT alternative, or foldered behind one that could be researchable. It would bolster the tree, add more capabilities to players wishing to make historical recreations, and give players more options to research and play within the Israeli Aviation Tech Tree.
(Any further history regarding the Netz service within the IAF will be detailed at a later date following suggestions for later variations of the aircraft.)
Specifications:
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Operating Country: Israel
Type: Tandem-Seat Trainer
Crew: 2 Pilots
Wingspan: ~31ft
Wing Area: ~300Ft²
Length: ~49.5ft
Height: ~16.71ft
Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220
Max Thrust: ~6490kgf | AfterBurner Thrust: ~9000kgf
Max speed: ~Mach 2 at ~11km altitude
Service Ceiling: 55000ft
Range: ~2400mi
Please keep in mind there are some smaller changes, such as the new Block 15 Elevators making a small difference, and exterior mounted Countermeasure Dispensers ever so slightly adding to drag. This would add to a difference in flight performance compared to the regular F-16B. Given these differences aren’t documented in how they effected the flight performance IRL, it’s up to gaijin’s developers to estimate the effects this would have on the aircraft’s flight performance. They may however just make no changes at all like what is seen with the F-16A Netz of the 1987 “Mod” configuration seen ingame, which has an identical flight model to the Netz A “Mod”, which may be bug reported at a later date from the making of this suggestion by myself or another user.
Electronics and Systems:
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- Radar: AN/APG-66 Multimode Radar.
- RWR: AN/ALR-69 Digital RWR.
- 2x AN/ALE-45 Countermeasure dispensers mounted on the underside of the tail section. (They can each dispense 30 “Standard” size countermeasures or instead dispense 15 “Large” each. Often seen in a 30 and 15 combination, and modeled as such ingame on many aircraft including the Netz A, and even functioning as such on the Thai F-16 ingame. However gaijin seems to prefer leaving it in a 30 and 30 combination even when visually modeled in a 15 and 30 configuration.)
- 2x (Not 4 like the Netz A) AN/ALE-40 exterior Chaff Dispensers (taken from IAF F-4E Kurnass aircraft) mounted under the belly of the aircraft next to the ventral fins. Dispense an additional 30 “standard size” countermeasures each. (IRL they only dispensed Chaff as is seen on the F-4Es which used this system, however gaijin has allowed them to use flare cartridges which were compatible with the dispensers. This gives the aircraft a total of 120 “standard” sized countermeasures of flares or chaff)
- CCIP for Cannon, Bombs, & Rockets. CCRP for bombs. EEGS for Cannon.
Central fin CM dispensers as seen on the IAF F-16A Block 10 Netz “Mod” ingame:
Armament:
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(Identical to the later A variant seen ingame, with small differences presented based on the inaccuracies of the Netz A ingame)
- 1x Centerline Drop Tank with a capacity of 300 gallons.
- Up to 2x Underwing Drop Tanks with a capacity of 370 gallons each.
- 1x M61A1 Vulcan 20mm rotary cannon with 511 rounds of ammunition.
- Up to 6x Aim-9P3 Sidewinders.
- Up to 6x Aim-9L Sidewinders.
- Up to 6x Python 3 AAMs.
- Up to 2-6x AGM-65A/B Mavericks.
- Up to 6x FFAR Mighty Mouse Rocket pods with 7-19x anti-armor rockets each.
- Up to 4x BLU-27/B incendiary bombs.
- Up to 19x Mk.82 500lb standard or drag bombs.
- Up to 4x Mk.84 2000lb standard bombs.
- (Potentially, according to gaijin’s addition on the Netz “Mod”) Up to 4x 2000lb GBU-31 JDAM GPS guided bombs. Possibly smaller JDAMs as well.
Missing Weaponry:
- Up to 6x Zuni ATAP rocket pods with 4x anti-armor rockets each.
- At least 4x Mk.83 1000lb standard or drag bombs.
- Up to 4x GBU-8 2000lb guided bombs. (Although IAF F-16A/Bs never used the GBU-8, American ones did and it’s safe to assume these ones were compatible with it and it can be added to the aircraft given that it was in the IAF’s inventory. The American F-15As were given the GBU-8 since IAF F-15s used them, so it’s only fair to have this present as well as a sort of exchange if you will.)
Missing Weaponry (Not Ingame):
- Cluster Bombs (Mk.20 Rockeye), Anti-Runway Bombs, Penetration Bombs, Anti-Radiation Missiles (AGM-88 HARM).
Sources:
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F-16.net - The ultimate F-16, F-35 and F-22 reference
F-16.net - The ultimate F-16, F-35 and F-22 reference
F-16.net - The ultimate F-16, F-35 and F-22 reference
F-16B Israeli Air Force: an interesting detail - The Aviationist
Video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=34Sa0vzmBfs
Specifications and Features of the F-16A Block 1-10 acknowledged and implemented into the game by Gaijin Entertainment.
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon variants - Wikipedia
(Although the images of the new Elevators are proof enough of their existence, here’s gaijin acknowledging the presence of a new tail design in case anyone desires such information:
Hornet’s Sting Pre-orders: EC-665 Tigre HAD-E and F-16A Block 10 Netz
[Shop] Hornet’s Sting Pre-orders: EC-665 Tigre HAD-E and F-16A Block 10 Netz - News - War Thunder )
Thank you for taking the time to read my Second suggestion! Hopefully there aren’t any historical errors or too many spelling/grammar mistakes. I hope y’all have a wonderfully blessed day and I’ll see ya in my next suggestion (Should be a few IAF Mustang Variants)!
