August 29, 2024: Norway sent six of its remaining F-16s to Ukraine this year. Norway is one of many nations that have contributed F-16s and so far, the total contributions are over a hundred F-16s. Norway was one of the first export customers for the American F-16, receiving its first of 72 F-16s in 1980.

In 2001 Norway decided to reduce the size of its military. The Cold War had been over for a decade and there was no threat on the horizon. For the air force, this meant reducing the number of F-16 jet fighters to 48 and preparing to get rid of all its F-16s via sales or donations. So far Norway has sold or donated nearly all its F-16s. The six it donated to Ukraine had to be refurbished and returned to flying condition before they would be flown to Ukraine.

Back in 2008 Norway decided to buy the more expensive U.S. F-35 rather than the less expensive Gripen from neighbor Sweden. What changed Norwegian minds was a series of computer simulations, which concluded that the Gripen could not provide much of a fight against the Russian advanced Su-30 fighters or the new Russian Su-57.

Norway shares a border with Russia, and Russian warplanes were increasingly active off Norway's northern coast. The decision to go for the F-35 was based largely on the ability of that aircraft to put up some real opposition against the best that Russia has or will have in the next decade or so.

U.S. Air Force simulations and studies have shown the F-35 to be four times as effective against any current fighter, especially the fourth generation aircraft. The major advantages of the F-35 are engine power, stealth and the fact that it can fight clean, without any pods or missiles hung from its wings, and interfering with maximum maneuverability.

The 27 ton F-35 is armed with an internal 25mm cannon and four internal air-to-air missiles (or two missiles and two smart bombs) plus four external smart bombs and two missiles. All sensors are carried internally, and max weapon load is 6.8 tons. The aircraft is very stealthy when just carrying internal weapons. The first F-35s were delivered in 2016 and by 2024 over 900 were in service.

Meanwhile the U.S. F-16 fleet is rapidly aging. The average age of existing F-16s is over 35 years, and the average aircraft has over 7,000 flight hours on it. Most European nations received their F-16s in the 1980s and have upgraded them since, but they are still basically elderly aircraft. Back in 2009 the first Block 40 F-16 passed 7,000 flight hours. In 2008 the first of the earliest Block 25 model F-16s passed 7,000 hours in the air. The F-16C was originally designed for a service life of 4,000 hours. Advances in engineering, materials and maintenance techniques have extended that to over 8,000 hours. Because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, F-16s sent to these areas flew over a thousand hours a year more than what they would fly in peacetime.

The U.S. F-16 is one of the most modified jet fighters in service. The most numerous F-16 is the C model. The first version of this, the F-16C Block 25, entered service in 1984. The original F-16, as the F-16A Block 1, entered service in 1978. While most F-16s still in service are the F-16C, there are actually six major mods, identified by block number, as in 32, 40, 42, 50, 52, or 60), plus the Israeli F-16I, which is a major modification of the Block 52. Another special version Block 60, for the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is called the F-16E. The various block mods included a large variety of new components (five engines, four sets of avionics, five generations of electronic warfare gear, five different radars and many other mechanical, software, cockpit and electrical mods.)

The F-16 is the most numerous post-Cold War jet fighter, with over 4,600 built, and still in production. During The Cold War, Russia built over 10,000 MiG-21s, and the U.S over 5,000 F-4s, but since then warplane has plummeted about 90 percent. One exception, since the end of the Cold War, has been the F-16, which has been popular enough to keep the production lines going.

The F-16 can also function as a bomber and ground attack aircraft, although not as effectively as the air force folks would have you believe. It can carry four tons of bombs and has been very effective using smart bombs. In air-to-air combat, F-16s have shot down 69 aircraft so far without any losses to enemy warplanes. Not bad for an aircraft that was originally designed as a cheaper alternative to the heavier F-15.