ROCAF F-16A Block 20 Fighting Falcon Late Service - "Fenghuang's Flames"

[Reimeru]

Would you like to see this in-game as a new aircraft?

• Yes
• No

Would you prefer to see the in-game aircraft changed to the “Late” version instead?

• Yes
• No

What BR would you want to see this aircraft at?

• 12.0
• 12.3
• 12.7
• 13.0
• Other (Please suggest)
• Voted No

ROCAF F-16A Block 20 Fighting Falcon Late Service

A academic article refers to each modification of the Block 20 as Stages 1, 2 and 3. I will use these as it brings greater clarity.
Stage 1 - 1996 - 1998 - F-16A Block 20 Initial acquisition with limited combat performance
Stage 2 - 1998 - 2002 - F-16A Block 20 reaches full combat readiness
Stage 3 - 2002 - Present - Further upgrades and F-16V upgrade program

A lot of this suggestion is copied from the old forum suggestion, as the Stage 2 (or “Late”) variant is almost identical in characteristics and performance. The Stage 2 variant would represent a massive capability upgrade for the ROCAF air line, and greatly bolster the Chinese Air Tree, in a similar way to the F-16AM Block 15 MLU in the Belgian subtree. A true representation of the Block 20’s combat capability in war thunder would make a lot of ROCAF fans (including myself) very happy.

As the F-16A Block 20 in game carries the armament of the Stage 1 version (Only AIM-9M and AIM-7M, this is a suggestion for the Stage 2 version which carries the full potential of the aircraft’s armament. This modification is the first upgrade of the F-16A-20, the second upgrade being to F-16V standard, the (incorrectly) so called “mid-life upgrade (MLU)”. The current in game name of F-16A-20 “MLU” is misleading in this manner.

There are 4 true versions of the aircraft in ROCAF service

• F-16A Block 20 (Stage 1) - with no AMRAAM capability, worse A2G weaponry
• F-16A Block 20 (Stage 2) - this suggestion
• F-16A Block 72 (Stage 3) - Existing service Block 20’s upgraded to F-16V standard [Referred to as F-16V]
• F-16C Block 70 - New-build F-16V airframes [Referred to as F-16V]

Highlights of this version are the capability to use AIM-120C-5 AMRAAMs, AGM-65G Mavericks, GBU-10/12 Paveway IIs and the LANTIRN targeting pods putting it on par with current top tier multirole fighters.

History

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Stage 1 - 1996-1998

In November 1992, representatives of Taiwan and the United States signed an agreement for the sale of 150 F-16A/B aircraft (120 A-models and 30 B-models) to Taiwan under the Peace Fenghuang Foreign Military Sales program. This large order (which coincided with an order for 60 Mirage 2000-5 aircraft, as well as a planned production run of 130 IDF (Indigenous Defensive Fighter) aircraft was meant to replace Taiwan’s aging fleet of F-104 and F-5E aircraft. The air force inventory modernization program fits in a general military modernization program, spurred by China’s move to upgrade its military hardware.

The F-16s are F-16 block 15 OCU’s built to MLU specifications with some upgrades (but designated F-16 Block 20 however). By the start of 1997, 5 aircraft had already been built and were formally handed over to Taiwan.

ROCAF F-16s were initially equipped with AIM-7M Sparrow, AIM-9M & P4 Sidewinder and AGM-65B Maverick missiles.

In May 1994, the ROCAF ordered 80 Raytheon AN/ALQ-184(V)7 ECM pods as F-16’s jammers. In spite of the advanced avionics on board, some functions such as the interface for AIM-120s were restricted by the US military and could not be used. Instead, the ROCAF ordered 600 AIM-7M Sparrow and 900 AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles.

Stage 2 - 1998-2002

The situation started to change in 1998. Since then, the US government approved several arms sales which greatly boosted ROCAF F-16’s potency:

• June 1, 1998: 28 sets of more advanced Pathfinder/Sharpshooter navigation/targeting pods with maverick support (export version of the LANTIRN system).
• August 27, 1998: 58 air-launch AGM-84L Harpoon missiles and eight training rounds.
• June 7, 2000: 48 AN/ALQ-184 and 39 sets of Pathfinder/Sharpshooter pods.
• September 28, 2000: 200 AIM-120C and 292 launchers. (However, only 120 missiles were ordered.)
• September 5, 2001: 40 AGM-65G Maverick infrared guided air-to-ground missile, 48 LAU-117 launchers, 10 training missiles.
• July 1, 2002: Upgrade of F-16 Mission Modular Computer 3000 to 3051 configuration.

Crucially, the AIM-120 fire control function that was originally “locked” on Block 20’s computer was also restored.

Then, more recently a batch of 120 AIM-120C-5 and also 54 AGM-84 Harpoon missiles were purchased from the USA to complement the existing weapons stock.

In later years a number of new weapons were acquired and older ones upgraded. In 2003 a complementary batch of 182 AIM-9M-2 missiles were ordered. In 2007 an additional order for 218 AIM-120C-7 was placed together with 235 more AGM-65G. Not much later being followed by an order for 60 AGM-84L missiles and an upgrade package to upgrade the existing stock of Harpoons from the AGM-84G to L-standards.

On June 3rd, 1998, the US Department of Defense announced that it is willing to provide Taiwan with 28 advanced Pathfinder/Sharpshooter navigation and targeting pods of the AN/AAQ-14 and AN/AAQ-20 models. The deal is worth approx. US$160 million. Lockheed Martin Electronics & Missiles of Orlando, Florida will deliver 28 Sharpshooter targeting pods and 28 Pathfinder navigation pods for integration on Taiwan’s fleet of F-16 aircraft by October 2001. Taiwan will become the 10th foreign customer to select Lockheed Martin’s LANTIRN night vision system for its fighter aircraft. Pathfinder and Sharpshooter are derivatives of the LANTIRN system, which Lockheed Martin initially developed for US Air Force F-15E and F-16C/D fighters. On June 7th, 2000 a second order was placed for 39 pods of both Sharpshooter and Pathfinder systems.

The previous AN/AAQ-19 Sharpshooter targeting pod, mounted before this purchase, lacked the capability of a missile boresight correlator for automatic lock-on of the AGM-65 Maverick. This was fixed with the fully capable AN/AAQ-14 pod, which is used on the USAF F-15E. The LITENING II found on the F-16C in game has comparable performance.

Specifications

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General characteristics of F-16A/B Block 20:

• Power plant: Pratt and Whitney F100-PW-220
• Thrust: Military Thrust: 64.9 kN (14,670 lbf ); Maximum Afterburn Thrust: 106 kN (23,830 lbf)
• Wingspan: 31 feet (9.45 meters)
• Length: 47 feet 8 inches (15.02 meters)
• Height: 16 feet 8 inches (5.09 meters)
• Wing area: 300 ft 2 (27.87m 2)
• Empty weight: 18,238 lbs (8,273 kg)
• Max. take-off weight: 37,500 lbs (17,010 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 7,000 pounds internal (3,175 kilograms), 12,000 pounds with two external tanks (5,443 kilograms)
• Speed: 1,318 mph (Mach 2.05 at altitude)
• Ferry range: 2,278 nautical miles, with three external tanks 4,220 nautical miles
• Ceiling: 60,000 feet (18.3 kilometres)

The F-16A Block 20 is almost identical in appearance and performance to the F-16C Block 50.

Armament

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• Radar: AN/APG-66(V)3 Solid state pulse-Doppler X-band radar with max. range of 80 nautical miles (150km).

  • Azimuth angular coverage: ±10°/±30°/±60º.
  • Continuous wave (CW) illumination capable.
  • TWS mode: track 10, guided 6.
  • Ground-mapping capability.

• Avionics:

  • MMC-3000 modular mission computer with Link16 datalink.
  • INS: LN-93 ring laser gyroscope.
  • AN/APX-113(V) IFF transponder with “Bird Slicer” Antennas.
  • AN/ALR-56M threat warning system.
  • 4x AN/ALE-47 blocks with a total of 120 internal countermeasures (same as F-16C)
  • Digital map and MLS from Bae system.
  • PHUD same with F-16C/D.
  • Two Honeywell’s coloured multifunction displays.

• Air-to-air Armament:

  • 20mm M61A1 Vulcan 512 rounds
  • AIM-9P4 Sidewinder all-aspect IR missile
  • AIM-9M Sidewinder all-aspect IR missile
    (Please Note: Taiwan didn’t get AIM-9L export permission from the US and so they never owned or used AIM-9L missiles.)
  • AIM-7M Sparrow semi-active missile.
  • AIM-120C-5 AMRAAM active radar homing missile.
  • AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM active radar homing missile.

• Air-to-ground Armament:

  • M117 750lb bomb
  • 18x Mk82/Snake Eye high-drag 500lb bomb
  • 8x Mk83 1000lb bomb
  • 4x Mk84 2000lb bombs
  • 2x LAU-3/60/131 70mm rocket pods (one station on each wing)
  • 8x CBU-100 Cluster Bomb
  • 8x BLU-1B 750lb fire bomb
  • 8x BLU-1E 750lb fire bomb
  • 4x GBU-10 Paveway II
  • 6x GBU-12 Paveway II
  Image

  Triple ejector rack with 3 GBU-12 Paveway 2 GBUs.

  

  • 6x AGM-65B Maverick Air-to-Ground missile
  • 4x AGM-65G/G-2 Maverick Air-to-Ground missile
  Image

  (2 AGM-65Gs and 1 AGM-65Bs can be mounted and used on the same LAU-88 rail)
  Example: Three AGM-65G/D Maverick Missiles on an A-10 Thunderbolt - same can be applied to any jet equipped with the LAU-88 rail.

  

  
  It is possible to mount 3 AGM-65Gs on an LAU-88, though the drag is too high. This is worked around by only limiting carriage 2 65Gs and 1 other lower drag maverick (e.g. B/D).

  • 2x AGM-84G Harpoon air-to-surface anti-ship missile
  • 2x AGM-84L Harpoon air-to-surface anti-ship missile

• Utility pods:

  • AN/ALQ-184 ECM pod
  • AN/ALE-50 towed decoy system
  • LANTIRN AN/AAQ-14 Sharpshooter
  • LANTIRN AN/AAQ-20 Pathfinder
  • AN/VDS-5 LOROP-EO reconnaissance pod
  Images

  I suggest the addition of the AN/VDS-5 LOROP-EO recon pod, as it is unique to the ROCAF. It would be a unique system that could greatly aid players in simulator battles and realistic battles to aid quick spotting of the enemy from long distances.

  Close up of pod mounted on F-16B Block 20
  

  Pod mounted on F-16A Block 20
  

  Plastic hobby model (clearly showing shape)
  

Gallery

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F-16A Block 20 Mounting wingtip AIM-120

F-16A Block 20 Dropping Paveway II GBUs using the LANTIRN AN/AAQ-14 Targeting Pod

Sources

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Please feel free to add more sources, mention me and I will include them in this suggestion.

Republic of China Air Force - Wikipedia

F-16.net - The ultimate F-16, F-35 and F-22 reference

https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f-16/viperversions.shtml

https://info.publicintelligence.net/USAF-F16.pdf

AN/APG-66 - Wikipedia

[2.0] F-16 Variants

[3.0] F-16 In US & Foreign Service

Aircraft Specification Sheet for the General Dynamics F-16

RNLAF:Background | planken.org

F-16 Block 20 - 維基百科，自由的百科全書

F-16-Block20

Taiwan | Lockheed Martin

经典战机焕发新颜,关注台军F-16纵深打击能力 战隼升级 F-16战斗机最新改进计划 - CNKI

ROCAF Lockheed Martin F-16A/B

[Kathryn_Janeway]

As a new aircraft - no
Lol another ~400k RP c/p with meta missiles? Especially when we lack like 2 or 3 other unique aircrafts at the BR range?

Update the current one - probably
At least give my countermessures back.

[oom1992]

In my opinion, I guess would be 13.3 BR after F-16A Block 20 MLU and 2 unique AIDC multirole fighter aircraft from ROCAF

[VikernesVarg]

This would be a good idea so long as an inbetween filler is added to the Early and Late Block-20 - something like the F-CK-1?

[AWACS Ghost Eye]

This should not be a seperate vehicle - it should replace the current ROCAF F-16A MLU in the tech tree, if we still consider that thing to be an MLU instead of just a blk20. With gaijin not willing to give China accurate and balanced equipments - the J-11A/J-11A OCU arguably being one of the worst 13.0s in the game - there should be other options to delve into. The Taiwanese branch should also receive Mirage 2000-5EI in the near future.

[gultraman]

I suspect Gaijin just want both 12.0 and 13.0 F-16 in China tree just like in France TT.

[WalletWorrier]

Sure with 120Bs instead of Cs, unless at a higher BR sometime likely early next year.

[DarkLordMagus]

Which honestly would make sense. Simply bumping the current F-16A MLU to 13.0 (at least) by giving it AIM-9M and AIM-120C would make the gap between the F-5E and F-16A pretty enormous. The Taiwan line still needs to have a 12.0 early F-16. Even if it means having to grind out the F-16 twice. (Or 3 times when the F-16V is added.)

[hypilot]

Possibly 4 times Taiwan has/will have 2 F-16V variants (block 20 and block 70)

I’d rather have the F-16A Block 20 we have now to be fully upgraded and have a F-CK-1 variant to take its 12.0 place.

[DarkLordMagus]

Isn’t the only difference that some are rebuilds and others are new-build airframes?

[Bru322356]

taiwan also has some own planes that could be on there between the F-5s and the F-16, some examples would be: RF-5E, F-5F 5391/30130, Mirage 2000-5EI, F-CK-1C, f-ck-1a mlu, just to say some

[DarkLordMagus]

I would expect the Mirage 2000-5E1 (with MICA-EM) to be 13.0. And for F-CK-1A to be no lower than 12.7 while F-CK-1C would also be 13.0. F-5F 5391/30130 with the TC-1 missiles would be maybe 11.3. The early version of the F-16A MLU seems like by far the best option to fill China’s 12.0 niche.

[Bru322356]

i was thinking to add some of those between 10.7 and 13.0 if the current F-16 we have would go to 13.0 because of the missing armament (9Ms, amraams, etc), but maybe keeping it at 12.0 and add the F-16V might be the better idea :)

[Mythical2715]

This would be great to see as I have started grinding other nations to actually play top tier as china is extremely underpowered rn it’s just really hard as most games in the mlu will go to 12.7 or 13.0 anyway making it stupid hard for the sparrows to have any effectiveness at all plus the aim 9Ls with the amount of flares people got now days is just not right and the j11A has more of its mid life update kit than the actual j11A kit with maws system but no radar to match it like that’s silly. But I think the f16 MLU would be good to see at 13.0 with its respective weaponary as the Taiwan sub tree has lots of potential to be a good tree and the Chinese has the same but china doesn’t seem to get the good end of a lot of patches

[hypilot]

Block 70 would also have a better engine and conformal fuel tanks.

[向晚大魔王]

12.3 F-16A Early(BLOCK 20)，9M+7M
13.0/13.3 F-16A MLU，9M+120C5，whose performance is approximately the same as F-16C(BLOCK 52)
14.X？ F-16V(BLOCK 70)，9X+120C7，which will be added to the techtree in the future.

[马兰花]

Just don’t want to grind another 40 rp F16 with different missiles only.
The gap between F16 and F5 is fine, I’m already get used to it as a Chinese player. All I really care about is giving F16A MLU the equipment actually used.

[oom1992]

@向晚大魔王

12.3 F-16A Early(BLOCK 20)，9M+7M

AIM-9P-4 & AIM-9M instead AIM-9P & AIM-9L but 2x AIM-9P replace by AIM-9P-4.

and AIM-7M change lock range 40 → 65 km

@向晚大魔王

13.3 F-16A MLU，9M+120C5

I guess F-16A MLU (Late) would be 13.7 with AIM-120C-5 & AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM

@向晚大魔王

14.X？ F-16V(BLOCK 70)，9X+120C7

At 14.7 or 15.0 with AN/APG-83 SABR AESA radar, AIM-9X-2 and AIM-120C (AIM-120C-7 & AIM-120C-8). but 2x AIM-9M stock

[NyaroKo_Yatogami]

very timely suggestion，I want this or some J11B things as soon as possible

[Reimeru]

New sources show that this later service variant with the expanded weapons arsenal are more more clearly referred to as “Stage 2” aircraft by academic sources. I have amended the suggestion to bring further clarity.