The Enhanced Tactical Fighter (ETF) was a

strike fighter In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers. It is closely related to the c ...

/ interdictor program conducted by the United States Air Force between 1980 and 1984, to seek replacements for the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. It resulted in the

McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relyi ...

Competition

In March 1981, the USAF announced the Enhanced Tactical Fighter program to procure a replacement for the F-111 Aardvark. The program was later renamed the Dual-Role Fighter (DRF) competition. The concept envisioned an aircraft capable of launching deep air interdiction missions without requiring additional support by

fighter escort The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and ...

or jamming.Rininger 2009, pp. 85, 88.

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

submitted the F-16XL, while McDonnell Douglas submitted the F-15E Strike Eagle. The Panavia Tornado was also a candidate, but since the aircraft lacked a credible air superiority fighter capability, coupled with the fact that it is not American-made, it was not seriously considered.Donald 1995, p. 44. The DRF evaluation team, under the direction of Brigadier General

Ronald W. Yates General Ronald Wilburn Yates (born October 3, 1938)Who's Who in America - 1987-1988, 44th Edition (pub. 1986) served as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. As AFMC Commander, Yates was responsible for r ...

, ran from 1981 through 30 April 1983. McDonnell Douglas F-15E Prototype 060905-F-1234S-024

Though the two aircraft were competing for the same role, they were fairly different in design approach. The twin-engine F-15E Strike Eagle is basically an F-15D two-seat trainer with the back-seat station modified to support ground-attack instruments. The single-engine F-16XL has major structural and aerodynamic differences from the original

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

, resulting in a promising design which, with its radically redesigned cranked-delta wing, greatly boosted performance; if selected, the single- and two-seat versions were to be designated F-16E and F-16F, respectively.Donald 1995, p. 45. As such, the XL would have required much more effort, time and money to put into full production. Additionally, the Strike Eagle has two engines, which gives it more thrust and capacity to carry more weapons and/or armor. Furthermore, engine redundancy can be very useful for an aircraft whose mission involves operating within the reach of

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

and

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s, in addition to the standard threats of

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

and interceptors. On 24 February 1984, the USAF chose the F-15E; key factors in the decision were the F-15E's lower development costs compared to the F-16XL (US$270 million versus US$470 million), a belief that the F-15E had future growth potential, and possessing twin-engine redundancy.Jenkins 1998, p. 36.Ciborski, James R
"The F-15 Eagle: A Chronology."
''History Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Force Materiel Command,'' Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, June 2002. The USAF was initially expected to procure 400 aircraft, a figure later revised to 392.Ulsamer, Edgar
"In Focus: The Dual-Role Eagle."
''Air Force magazine'', April 1984. The two F-16XLs were returned to the Air Force and placed in storage at Edwards Air Force Base, Mojave, California.

References

{{F-16 Fighting Falcon variants Military aircraft procurement programs of the United States