In the history of the development of the United States Air Force, the F-16 is a very important fighter, he helped the United States Air Force participate in many wars, and it is still the main model of the United States Air Force. In 2005, after the U.S. Air Force purchased the last F-16, it announced that it would end the procurement of this fighter model and turn to export. However, at present, the main fighter of the US Air Force is the F-16, and the allies are also F-16 fighters.
Despite the loss of such a large customer as the US Air Force, Lockheed Martin's production line has not stopped, and they have been continuously producing F-16 fighter jets, and the customers of this fighter have also changed from the US Air Force to overseas users. In order to adapt to the overseas market, Lockheed Martin has made several facelifts to the F-16 fighter, trying to maintain the important position of this fighter through the renewal and upgrading of the fuselage and components.
In 2012, Lockheed Martin introduced the F-16V fighter. Originally, the users of this version also included the United States Air Force, but with the development of the times, a group of users, including the United States Air Force, gradually withdrew. However, there is another user who not only equips F-16 fighters, but also upgrades their own fighters, and as of early December 2023, all 141 F-16 fighters in the hands of this F-16 user have been upgraded to the level of F-16V. And in November 2022, the first brand-new F-16V fighter they purchased also rolled off the production line, which attracted the attention of all parties.
In this region of the western Pacific, the J-10C fighter is the counterpart of the F-16V, which has led to a comparison of the performance of the two fighters. As we all know, most of the fighter models of the US Air Force are alphabetically sorted according to the chronological order of development. According to this sorting rule, at first glance, the F-16V fighter should be a fighter with a very low development order, but in fact, this fighter is second only to the F-16E F fighter in the development order, and it cannot be regarded as a very new model. What really catches the eye of this fighter is the AN APG-83 active phased array radar it carries, which is the most important thing in the whole fighter.
In Lockheed Martin's propaganda, this active phased array radar uses part of the technology found on the F-22 and F-35A, providing advanced combat effectiveness for the F-16V fighter. Now that the AN APG-83 active phased array radar is used, cooling and power requirements will be a top priority, for which Lockheed Martin has also specially equipped this fighter with new engines, and the fighter's avionics system must also be replaced with the most advanced ones.
The whole fighter is full of new components, so it is impossible to retire it after only a few years of use, so the life of the aircraft has been extended, allowing it to serve for a longer time. Therefore, the entire F-16V fighter is improved around the active phased array radar it is carrying. After all, this set is upgraded down, and the F-16 fighter is upgraded.
Compared with the bells and whistles of the F-16V, the J-10C fighter is much more pragmatic. China's new fighter is also equipped with an active phased array radar and an advanced avionics system, and the engine uses a domestically produced turbofan-10B engine, which can provide strong power for the entire fighter and make up for the last shortcoming of the J-10 series fighters. It is precisely because of the excellent performance of the J-10C fighter that the Pakistan Air Force will purchase this new fighter to replace the F-16 fighter already in service in its hands.
In the Chinese Air Force, the J-10C fighter is also known as the "Three Musketeers" of the Chinese Air Force together with the J-16 and J-20 fighters, which is enough to see the important position of this new fighter. Of course, the J-10C fighter is also a new multi-role fighter, using an active phased array radar, which is the same airborne as the J-10 and J-16, and can even be used with the Air Police-500 early warning aircraft, which is an advantage in overall performance and the number of equipment.
As one of the main fighters of the Chinese Air Force in the future, the J-10C fighter is not only equipped with various types of advanced ammunition, but also can be matched with special fighters such as the Air Police series and the Yunyou-20 to achieve systematic operations, which are much stronger than the castrated version of the F-16V. What's more, in the future war, the big countries are fighting a completely systematic war, why use the J-10C and F-16V to fight bayonets in the air, and directly send the latest J-20 fighter to strike at the enemy's air targets