The genesis of the successful F-16 Viper multi-role fighter aircraft lies in reaction to severe deficiencies in U.S. fighter design revealed by the Vietnam War.
For many years during the Vietnam War era, U.S. Air Force (USAF) fighter pilots were not allowed to engage in dogfights against dissimilar aircraft, as it was deemed “too dangerous.” However, the USAF paid the price for this error when many fighter pilots fought a dissimilar type of aircraft in the skies over North Vietnam against a determined adversary armed with guided missiles.
Dissatisfaction with these deficiencies led to the development of the USAF F-15.
However, since many in the fighter community believed that aircraft like the F-15 Eagle were too large and expensive for many combat roles, the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program was initiated.
The program sought a small, lightweight, low-cost, air superiority day fighter designed for high performance and ease of maintenance.
Two aircraft competed against each other in the LFW program: the General Dynamics YF-16 and the Northrop YF-17.
On January 13, 1975, at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), Secretary of the Air Force John L. McLucas announced that the YF-16 had won the competition over the YF-17 for full-scale development as the USAF’s next Air Combat Fighter.
