Originally Posted by
typerated
Was this Michael Portillo?
Never heard of that development of the F-16 - who was planning this?
I always thought the F-16E/XL was by far the best version - apart from sustained turn it was an order of magnitude better than the standard machine.
Think the USAF missed a big trick not making this the standard buy.
Was the delta a development of the XL?
It drew some inspiration from the XL but the wing was more F-22-like - the XL wing originated with SST research at NASA. Also, the XL program had ended with the selection of the F-15E for the Dual Role Fighter in 1984, and this later design originated around 1993.