F-16 Fighting Falcon

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine, supersonic, multirole fourth-generation fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics, whose military aircraft business was later absorbed into Lockheed Martin, and it entered operational United States Air Force service on October 1, 1980. The design pioneered a frameless bubble canopy for improved pilot visibility, a side-stick flight controller, and the first operational use of a relaxed static stability, fly-by-wire flight control system, features that combined to give the aircraft exceptional agility for its era. More than 4,600 F-16s have been built since production began in 1976, making it the most common fixed-wing aircraft in military service worldwide and the mainstay fighter of dozens of allied air forces alongside the United States. Its combination of affordability, versatility across air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, and sustained upgrade programs has kept it in front-line service for more than four decades.