The F-16 at 50: Why it's still in demand

bbc.com

5 pointsrntn4 comments

It's cheap ... but not the Boeing kinda cheap.

The current F16 are not 50. They have been modernized along the years. The F16 is a multi-role fighter, and an amazing plane in the league with the A-10 Thunderbolt "Tank Killer".

Fighting Eagle fears no one

Still, imagine how multi-role a "modernised" Sopwith Camel could have been in 1967. (compare F4Es and MiG-23s)

(Speaking of A-10s, how many 30mm rounds does it take to equal the wine bottle in https://xkcd.com/2883/? Anti-armour Abruzzo?)

A.(rot13) n yvggyr haqre gjb zvahgr'f jbegu

Another 50-year gap:

1934: IBM 405, 150 cards/minute, rented by businesses at $1000/mo (USD 23K/mo in 2024)

http://www.righto.com/2017/11/identifying-early-ibm-computer...

1984: Apple Macintosh, 6 MHz, bought by individuals at $2500 (USD 7,4K in 2024)

https://support.apple.com/kb/sp186

(and for that matter, 50 years in aerospace is the difference between https://www.kshs.org/index.php?url=km/items/view/210706 and https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/space_level2/... )

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