Mitsubishi F-2 is a Japanese variant of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon which is developed by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries & Lockheed Martin for Japan Air Self-Defense Force with a 60/40 production in USA & Japan.
There are 98 Mitsubishi F-2 aircraft produced compared to 4500+ F-16 Fighting Falcon produced.
Mitsubishi F-2 has some changes in its airframe & is a little bigger in size from F-16. Because of the bigger size the Mitsubishi F-2 is heavier.
Mitsubishi F-2 Characteristics
- Length: 50 ft 11in
2. Wingspan: 36 ft 6in
3. Wing area: 375.0 sq. ft
4. Empty weight: 9,527 kg (21,003 lbs.)
5. Max takeoff weight: 22,100 kg (48,722 lbs.)
F-16 Characteristics
- Length: 49 ft 5 in
2. Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in
3. Height: 16 ft
4. Wing area: 300 sq. ft
5. Empty weight: 8,573 kg (18900 lbs.)
6. Max takeoff weight: 19,187 kg (42300 lbs.)
Power-plants (Engine) of Mitsubishi F-2 & F-16
Mitsubishi F-2 is powered by the engine which was used in older models of F-16 which is General Electric F110-IHI-129 after burning turbofan, (76 kN thrust dry, 131 kN with afterburner)
The new variants of F-16 (Block 52 & above “Upgraded”) are powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 afterburning turbofan (79 kN thrust dry, 129.7 kN with afterburner)
Radar
Mitsubishi F2 is using Mitsubishi Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar System J/APG-2 or J/APG-1 (Variant Varies).
F-16 Fighting Falcon uses AN/APG-68 in all the block 52 & above models. (Radar Variants can Vary).
Armaments
The huge difference between Mitsubishi F-2 & F-16 Fighting Falcon is armaments they use because F-2 armaments are based on the needs of Japanese Air Defense Force.
The major difference we can observe between Mitsubishi F-2 & F-16 Fighting Falcon is that F-2 is not equipped with AMRAAM AIM-120 (BVRM) which is the most lethal weapon of F-16 in Air to Air Combat instead Mitsubishi F-2 uses AAM-4 BVRM for Air to Air Combat.
Important Note: “Some stats regarding F-16 Fighting Falcon can vary because it has many variants (Blocks)”.
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