The F-16, more frequently known as the Viper than its official name of Fighting Falcon, has been around seemingly forever. First flying in early 1974, it and the YF-17 were built in response to a proposal for a lightweight fighter that learned from the lessons of the Vietnam War. A multi-year fly-off between the two aircraft resulted in the YF-16 being chosen the winner. While the YF-17 was arguably just as good an aircraft and perhaps better, the YF-16 could be built for less money so it was chosen. Fortunately for the YF-17, its twin engines were just what the Navy needed for its next multi-role aircraft so with a fair amount of modification, it became the F-18 Hornet.

Once the fly-off was finished, the type entered into production with a small batch of preproduction aircraft from FY 75 funding produced for testing. The first production aircraft were FY 78 and soon started entering squadron service. The first overseas customer was Israel who was also the first to use the type in combat. Information gleaned from these combats was fed back to the US for use in developing tactics and also for improvements in the aircraft.

Since then, the F-16 has been used in a wide number of conflicts around the world and it is no surprise that most of them have been in the eastern Mediterranean and near East. Not all war usage has been US and Israeli with other countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Pakistan and others having success with the F-16. Not all combat has been air to air with the actual majority of combat missions being strike, a task for which the Viper is well suited.

In line with Mike's other books, this one concentrates on the story of units and airmen from those initial Israeli missions to those flown during conflicts such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

So basically what you have is a nicely researched book that provides some introductory information on the aircraft, but spends most of the pages telling the combat use. We get inputs from both sides of the various conflicts, with those of the men who flew the plane being quite interesting. It makes for a book that is fun to read. If you have any interest in the F-16, you will want this book. I highly recommend it.

October 2026

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Thanks to Mike Guardia for the review copy. You can get yours from many sources including Amazon.

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