The Air Force Built a Better F-16 Fighter. It Could Carry Twice the Weapons and Fly 65% Farther. Then It Picked the F-15 Instead

The Air Force Built a Better F-16 Fighter. It Could Carry Twice the Weapons and Fly 65% Farther. Then It Picked the F-15 Instead

The F-16 has long been one of the workhorses of the United States Air Force since it entered service in 1978 — nearly half a century ago. Thousands of F-16s have been built in multiple production variants. One of the most radical of the multitude of F-16 variants is the F-16XL. The F-16XL Was a Giant Fighter That Never Got a Chance Perhaps the prime difference between the baseline F-16 and the F-16XL was the latter’s significantly enlarged wing.…