There was a time when the internet said, “Do you beat 100 Jedi or 12,000 ducks?” Videos of fights seeking answers to irrelevant questions such as Since the fights were never airborne in those videos, we never got to see how the fight between an F-16 fighter plane and a dragon would turn out. Then we decided to determine the result ourselves.
First, let’s define the terms of the conflict. Open air, altitude is a range where both sides can fly and maneuver comfortably, and below is the desert and a mountain range. There is no human life on the mountain, so that there are no ethical reservations, everyone should fire whatever weapon they have.
How is the dragon a dragon?
Almost everyone has an opinion on what a dragon is according to their own culture. Only Nintendo employees have not figured out what a dragon is, they call an apple a tree a dragon while Charizard is not a dragon type. A more or less similar thing comes to mind when everyone else thinks of the dragon.
Which dragon are we going to get when it comes to life? While I make a list for our possible dragons in a corner, let me introduce our other warrior at the same time.
Features of F-16 warplanes:
Of course, not all F-16s are the same. So what we’re going to do is, we’re going to choose a variation specially prepared for it, as the battle will take place in the air. Otherwise, scenarios such as “The dragon threw a nuke on his head while he was sleeping and ran away, heyoo” will also come into play.
Our aircraft uses one of the General Electric (Block 30 40 50 60) and Pratt & Whitney (Block 1 5 10 15 20 25 32 42 52) engines. Since technically I’m not paying a few million dollars for the plane and $22,500 an hour for each take off, I’ll be driving the most advanced model used, the F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcon (a little bit of $57 million). It’s not an F-35, but it has AN/ASQ-28 IFTS imaging system on it. So wherever our beloved dragon is, we’ll be able to see it. This is how we use features such as navigation and automatic targeting. In addition, the aircraft is equipped with the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-80 “Agile Beam Radar” AESA radar.
With its engine producing 144,567 kilonewtons of power, the speed of this vehicle can reach 2,123 kilometers per hour. The 14.5-meter aircraft can accommodate a 20 mm 6-barreled gun and 2 air-to-air rockets as standard. My preference is the Sidewinder air-to-air attack rocket. This rocket can exceed Mach 2.5 speed. This sweet rocket can track heat velocity and if you want to blow up a building or something behind a 10cm thick steel wall, you can get this rocket for just $381,070.
So I chose a dragon? Certainly. First, let’s take a look at the eliminated candidates:
Dragons in European folk legends:
We can all agree that a dragon defeated by men with a stove and a huge pole will not stand a chance against an F-16. I said then let’s go past them and look at their equivalents in the eastern legends.
Dragons in eastern folk legends:
Magical and gigantic creatures that rule dimensions, roughly god or goddess. Sorry about the planes this time. After all, there is no need to buy back a machine worth $57 million in the form of a coke can.
Game of Thrones dragons don’t stand a chance either!
We all know more or less the result of 21,600 bullets against the dragon that died with the wooden stake thrown from the ship: the authentic giant strainer with the theme of Game of Thrones. F-16s are too fast for them and have much more attack power.
At least Smaug can stand up to it? No, he has no luck either:
Smaug will put up a better fight, but he doesn’t have much of a chance. We know that we can pierce the scales, we also know that it is not very fast. It’s sad, there’s nothing you can do.
If you’re playing magic, then there’s Nicol Bolas:
We are talking about a creature that can travel between dimensions and destroy civilizations. The F-16 doesn’t stand a chance, maybe a pilot with a blue-and-white deck can stop him.
Guzzlord:
Is there such a dragon? Where is this from? Pokémon? NINTENDOOOO!
There are also planets, star-eating dragons, but you more or less get the point. When it comes to fantasy literature, we find dragons that we can beat, and when we get into big mythologies, we find dragons that we can’t fight. But…
Luckily I found our dragon: The Red Death
Remember our dragon in the How to Train Your Dragon series? Clever, able to make plans, fireproof, devastating enough, and firebreath powerful enough to incinerate a viking fleet in one go. When he takes a deep breath, he can even draw other dragons around him into his mouth.
This 300-meter giant dragon has a wingspan of 100 meters. Let’s see how the fight goes.
Round 1: I see you giant lizard
Our plane, which takes off from a base in the USA, begins its journey over this strange creature seen on the horizon. Meanwhile, Red Death looks around for some dragons he can control. As we understand from American movies, American pilots first try to communicate when they see something, and then they take it step by step to the nuclear bomb. In reality, however, it would not be surprising at all if they went straight to war.
In this case, it will first send the rockets and then evaluate the situation. Rockets will hurt the creature, but missiles alone will not be enough. So the fight will get to the point we wanted from the beginning: dogfight.
Round 2: We have a problem!
After the explosion of the rockets, we see the dragon flying towards the F-16 when the fireball and the blown dust disperse. In this case, the most logical thing for the plane to do is of course get out of the way. Fortunately, the aircraft’s general evasive maneuver is upwards, or it would have to come up with plenty of fire. Although aircraft can withstand short-term fire, it is safer.
Then the chase in the sky would begin. Despite the giant dragon’s slowness, the plane will also need a safe distance to attack. In the meantime, it will perform maneuvers such as flying close to the mountains and passing through areas where maneuvering is difficult.
The problem is, Red Death isn’t a creature that cares about hitting small cliffs. Problems will begin for the F-16 when it begins to inhale the air around it. Due to aerodynamic problems, the balance of the aircraft will be disturbed. Luckily there is a way out of this, the diversion flares and the ability to go too high for the dragon will give him adequate escape.
From here, it obviously depends on how successfully the plane can hit the dragon. Considering that these planes shot down other planes from a distance of kilometers, it is not difficult to say that they can easily shoot the dragon 100 meters to 300 meters. In this case, our main topic is whether the bullets will be enough to overthrow the dragon.
This is where the intelligence of the pilot comes into play.
If he manages to take the dragon in front of him, fills the dragon’s stomach with lead the moment he opens his mouth, or if he first smashes his canals and then hunts the dragon with salvos when he lands, the F-16 will win. Otherwise, the F-16 has almost no chance in a flank fight, or in a situation where it focuses its attack on a point where the dragon’s armor is strong.
What would you like us to compare with what in the next article? We are ready to compare whichever fight is the most liked.
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