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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.
The fast and agile F-16 Fighting Falcon isn't just one of the top fighters it is also among the most cost-effective. Though it lacks the range and payload of the larger twin-engine F-15 Eagle, it also costs less than half – which is why the fourth-generation F-16 has been in use since the 1970s and will likely keep flying for many more years to come.
In 1972 the Air Force's Prototype Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, launched the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program, and the request for proposals (RFP) called for a highly maneuverable fighter with a significant emphasis on reduced weight but also cost. The program wasn't originally intended to lead to a production aircraft, but rather to determine what was possible at what cost. While five contractors competed for the LWF two finalists emerged – General Dynamics and Northrop, which would build two prototypes of their respective designs, the YF-16 and YF-17. As the program conti...