Lightweight Fighter Competition: The F-16 and F/A-18 Battled to Join the U.S. Air Force
The program was called the Lightweight Fighter Competition, or LWF, and the end result was not one, but two living legends in the world of fourth-generation fighter jets: the F-16 Fighting Falcon, known to her pilots and crew chiefs as “The Viper,” and the F-18 Hornet.
Source: nationalinterest.org