Message posted by NotTelling (Member since 07/02/2023) on July 02, 2023 at 0:33:26 PST:
To clarify, the -CJ and -CG references came from the the tech orders. The USAF originally used "Blocks" instead of rolling the letter to avoid making the new versions of the Viper look like major upgrades (which of course they were). The original F-16C/D became known as the Block 25. The next upgrade was the Block 30. Those 1- and 2-seaters should have been called F-16E/F but instead they stuck with previous F-16C/D and restricted the "E" and "F" to the tech orders (i.e. F-16CE and F-16CF). Subsequently the 1- and 2-seat Block 40 (F-16CG and F-16CH) and Block 50 (F-16CG and F-16CH) followed suit. Note that "I" was skipped to avoid confusion with the Israeli model, and the 2-seat references (CH and CK) simply don't get used. Over time the Block 40/50 references were slowly replaced with the CG/CJ references. The "CE" reference never caught on because the Block 30 had the same mission as the Block 25. CG (LANTIRN) and CJ (HARM) were distinguished by mission (as Ron accurately said) and those terms worked their way into the ATO.
In Reply to: Re: YF-220 and X-273 removed from Dan Javorsek resume posted by Ron on July 01, 2023 at 16:00:19 PST:
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