This article is about a general class of aircraft. For the specific US aircraft, see Lightweight Fighter program.
The General Dynamics YF-16 and Northrop YF-17 were competing designs in the US Lightweight Fighter program.
A light fighter or lightweight fighter is a fighter aircraft towards the low end of the practical range of weight, cost, and complexity over which fighters are fielded.[1][2] The light or lightweight fighter retains carefully selected competitive features, in order to provide cost-effective design and performance.[3][4]
A well-designed lightweight fighter is able to match or better a heavier type plane-for-plane in many missions,[5][failed verification][6][7][8] and for lower cost.[9] The lightweight class can therefore be strategically valuable.[10]
In attempts to scale this efficiency to still lower cost, some manufacturers have in recent years adopted the term “light fighter” to also refer to light primarily air-to-ground attack aircraft, some of which are modified trainer designs.[11] These lower cost lightweight attack aircraft have become known as light combat aircraft (LCA's), and are sometimes considered to include some multirole light fighters.
From 1926 the light fighter concept has been a regular thread in the development of fighter aircraft, with some notable designs entering large-scale use.
^William Stuart, Northrop F-5 Case Study in Aircraft Design, 1978. Page 7: "This became the Northrop philosophy in the development of the T-38 and F-5 lightweight fighter and trainer aircraft."
^T. West Hubbard, The Fighter Mafia: Vietnam, the Fighter Jet, and the Future of the Air Force, 2014. Kindle location 1116: "The early flight tests proved extremely successful as both [the F-16 and F-18] light fighters easily outmaneuvered the F-4, exactly as the MiGs had done in Vietnam."
^Stuart, 1978, p. 7.
^James Stevenson, The Pentagon Paradox, Naval Institute Press, 1993. Page 62: "Fighter aircraft like the P-51, F8F Bearcat, and F-16 are examples of fighters that are lighter than their contemporaries, are less expensive, and have greater performance. Because fighter aircraft of lower weight can have increased performance, can cost less, and can create a larger force, these three benefits are embodied in the term lightweight fighter."
^Rogoway, Tyler (3 February 2015). "How To Win In A Dogfight: Stories From A Pilot Who Flew F-16s And MiGs". Retrieved 27 June 2016.
^"F-16 Teams Dominate USAF Air-to-Air Competition". PR Newswire. 25 October 1994. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
^Sprey, pp. 143–145 and pp. 47–49.
^Hammond, pp. 97–100.
^Sprey, pp. 63–65.
^Hammond, pp. 98–100 and pp. 107–109.
^"Domestic Light Attack Jets Due in 2013". Koreatimes.co.kr. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
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