Timeline F-16 Fighting Falcon

Small, cheap and agile — the lightweight fighter that became the most widely used fighter of its era, with more than 4,600 built for some 25 air forces.

All

Person

Event

Conflicts

Disaster / crisis

Science

Culture

Companies

Countries

Dashed left edge = started before this timeline · Dashed right edge = still ongoing

F-16 Fighting Falcon 12

1974 YF-16 unplanned first flight Edwards Air Force Base During a high-speed taxi test, pilot Phil Oestricher lifts off to save the prototype from damage and flies it for six minutes — two weeks before the official first flight.
1975 F-16 wins the Lightweight Fighter contest YF-16 over YF-17 The US Air Force selects the YF-16 over Northrop's YF-17, which lives on as the Navy's F/A-18 Hornet. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway soon order the F-16 too.
1975 Sale of the Century Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway Four NATO countries choose the F-16 over the Mirage F1, launching the fighter's export career.
1979 F-16 enters USAF service Hill Air Force Base, Utah The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, receives the first operational F-16s.
1980 Israel receives its first F-16s Netz The first F-16s arrive in Israel, which becomes the type's most combat-experienced operator.
1981 Operation Opera Israeli strike on Osirak Eight Israeli F-16s, escorted by F-15s, destroy Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad.
1982 Bekaa Valley air battle Operation Mole Cricket 19 Israeli F-15s and F-16s, supported by early-warning aircraft, destroy Syrian air defences and shoot down dozens of Syrian fighters without loss in air combat — one of the most one-sided air battles in history.
1983 Thunderbirds switch to the F-16 US Air Force display team The Thunderbirds begin flying the F-16, which they still fly today.
1991 Gulf War air campaign begins Operation Desert Storm Coalition aircraft open an air campaign of more than five weeks against Iraq. US F-15Cs score the majority of the coalition's air-to-air victories.
1999 Dutch F-16 downs a Serbian MiG-29 Kosovo War On the first night of NATO strikes on Yugoslavia, a Dutch F-16 shoots down a MiG-29 — the Netherlands' first air-to-air kill since 1945.
2019 MiG-21 shot down over Kashmir Abhinandan Varthaman Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison is shot down during an air battle with Pakistani F-16s. He is captured and released two days later. India claims an F-16, which Pakistan denies.
2024 Ukraine flies its first F-16s Donated by NATO allies The first F-16s donated by NATO countries enter Ukrainian service in the war against the Russian invasion.