F-16CJ

F-16CJ/DJ Block 50/52

An unknown number of Block 50/52 aircraft have been delivered to the USAF modified to perform the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) mission, replacing the F-4G 'Wild Weasel' aircraft; these were unofficially designated F-16CJ/DJ. The first F-16CJ (serial number 91-0360) was delivered on 7 May 1993, with the first Block 52 F-16 ever in the entire Airforce being delivered to the 157th FS in February 1994 due to their new found reputation that was earned after their win in the 1989 Gunsmoke gunnery competition at Nellis AFB (which also earned them the first F-16s ever in service with the U.S. Air National Guard for the same reason). Capable of launching both the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) and AGM-45 Shrikeanti-radiation missiles, the F-16CJ/DJ are equipped with a Lockheed Martin AN/AAS-35V Pave Penny laser spot tracker and the Texas InstrumentsAN/ASQ-213 HARM Targeting System (HTS), with the HTS pod mounted on the port intake hardpoint in place of the LANTIRN navigation pod. The first combat usage of these pods as well as the Litening II for the F-16 happened with the Block 52 F-16CJs of the 157th FS / South Carolina Air National Guard Squadron aka the "Swamp Foxes" during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They are one of the few Air National Guard squadrons to operate the HARM Targeting system equipped F-16CJs and employed these pods against Iraqi IADS (Integrated Air Defense Systems) hard killing the SAMs opposed to just suppressing them. They were the "first in" providing SEAD for the first strikes of the war including the famous F-117 Strike on Saddam Hussein. Another first for the F-16 came when the M3.1B software equipped F-16CJs of the 157th FS were the only F-16s in the theater which could independently fulfill the entire Air-to-Air ID matrix to satisfy the rules of engagement to shoot down enemy aircraft. The F-16CJ was also used to conduct air support by the same squadron during Operation Anaconda.