Photo by: IAF Maj. Ofer Israel Air Force has retired the first generation Lockheed Martin F-16 A/B fighters, 36 years after induction...
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| Photo by: IAF Maj. Ofer |
Called "Netz" in Israeli service, a ceremony was held at Ouvda AFB on Dec 26 to mark the de-induction process.
Israel received 75 of these single seat A and twin seat trainer B variants from 1980. The first four "Netz" aircraft landed in Ramat David AFB on July 2, 1980.
A further 50 F-16 A/B fighters from surplus USAF inventory were acquired to form squadrons in August 1994.
The aircraft was part of countless Israeli aerial combat missions and the fleet had carried out 474,000 sorties clocking 335,000 flight hours.
Within a year in Israeli service, the aircraft scored the first air to air kill of the type, when Brig. Gen. (Res.) Rafi Berkovitch shot down a Syrian Mil-Mi 8 helicopter in April, 1981.
About a year after the arrival of the first F-16's, on June 7th 1981, a flight of eight F-16's, escorted by six Boeing F-15s, attacked the Iraqi nuclear plant 'Osirak' just before it was to become operational, severely damaging the plant.
In the 1982 war with Lebanon, Israeli F-16s claimed more than 40 air to air kills against Syrian aircraft.
The A/B variants were also used to train new fighter pilots, which is now carried out by the Alenia M-346 advanced tranier jets.
From 1987 onwards, IAF started receiving the upgraded F-16 C/D versions dubbed 'Barak' featuring improved engine thrust, advanced avionics system and increased weapon payload. A total of 136 aircraft were acquired.
In 2000, Israel finalized a deal to acquire 100 latest F-16s dubbed the F-16I "Sufa". These were equipped with Conformal Fuel Tanks that double its flight range, new APG-68(V)X Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) enabling the tracking of ground targets day or night, Helmet Mounted Cueing System and satellite communication.
