USAF-Museum: F-16 "ATFI"

USAF-Museum: F-16 "ATFI"

In order to evaluate unconventional control of an aircraft in flight, the Flight Dynamics Laboratory of the Air Force Systems Command sponsored an Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) program. On Dec 26, 1978, General Dynamics was awarded a contract to convert the sixth FSD F-16A into an AFTI aircraft. It capitalized on the experience gained with the F-16 CCV (Control Configured Vehicle). The aircraft was handed over to the company in March 1980. The AFTI F-16 was fitted with twin canard surfaces mounted below the air intake. Those canards had been taken from the CCV/F-16 CCV. The aircraft was also fitted with a bulged spine which housed additional electronics. It had a full-authority triplex Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) and an Automated Maneuvering Attack System (AMAS), providing six independent degrees of freedom. It had been designed to be fault tolerant, so that no single failure should affect correct operation. In the event of a second fault developing, the system was able to revert to a standby condition which would permit safe flight to continue. To guard against unforeseen failure modes which might bring the entire digital flight control system down, the system incorporates a simple analog backup flight-control system.