PM Meets the F-16, The Fighter Jet Everyone Wants

After the YF-16 and YF-17 battled it out to become the next U.S. fighter jet, the winner, General Dynamics' YF-16, which would become the F-16, made its debut in the pages of Popular Mechanics in November 1975. Described as an aircraft that "excited so much interest in the world," the F-16 continued generating that excitement for decades and remains in use by air forces around the world.

Never before has a single military aircraft excited so much interest the world over. It's the F-16, newest, hottest addition to U.S. air might and a plane that may well become the most sought after of all time, Scarcely off the drawing board, the fighter has not only been adopted, by our own Air Force, but has become the popular choice of four other NATO nations, beating out such stiff competition as the famous French Mirage and the radically new canard-winged Swedish Viggen.

Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands have jointly signed up to purchase 350 of the sleek, multi-role supersonic jets, and other countries, including Canada, may follow suit. The U.S. Air Force has ordered 650, and the Navy is expected to buy 800 more for carrier use, bringing the initial total to 1,800. With anticipated additional purchases, production runs may eventually go as high as 3,000 to 4,000 possibly the greatest number of any one aircraft type ever manufactured.

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