F-16I Sufa "ISRAERI AIR FORCE"

The Israeli Air Force's (IAF) F-16I Sufa (Storm), a two seater, is the latest version of the Lockheed Martin F-16. Israel's Peace Marble V foreign military sales program will supply the Israel Air Force (IAF) with 102 two-seat aircraft and is the largest Israeli F-16 acquisition yet. The F-16I is specially designed for Israel, and has been named "Soufa," or "Storm" in Hebrew, by the IAF. The F-16I for Israel is based on current Block 50/52 production aircraft. The F-16I has a 23,600-kilogram [52,000 pound] take-off weight, considerably more than the earlier F-16s in IAF service, and is armed with the AMRAAM air-to-air missile.

The F-16I was developed on the basis of the F-16ES [Enhanced Strategic] single-seat and two-seat, long-range interdictor F-16 proposal. This configuraiton was developed in November 1993 in response to Israeli preference for the F-15I Eagle. The F-16ES featured additional fuel in one 1,136 liter (300 US gallon; 250 Imp gallon) centerline tank and two wing tanks, each 2,271 litre (600 US gallons; 500 Imp gallons), as well as two conformal tanks. The combat radius extended to in excess of 1,000 nautical miles (1,852 km; 1,151 miles). The F-16ES was not purchased at that time, but the conformal tanks were developed as retrofit option for existing F-16s

Eén uitvoering mogelijk;