The US fighter jet F-16 has been changed to color of Russia’s stealth fighter jet SU-57. The fighter plane F-16 which has been painted in the color of SU-57 was earlier in the Israeli Air Force.
In fact, an F-16A fighter jet of US’ private defense training company Top Aces has recently been seen in Arizona in a unique paint scheme, which is raising many questions.
Where was the inspiration taken from?
This new look given to the F-16 is inspired by the Russian fifth-generation fighter aircraft SU-57 Felon. Called ‘Felon paint job’, this design has a low-visibility, splinter-style gray camouflage pattern, which reflects the stealthy, angled and radar-evading design of the SU-57.
The most special thing is that red stars have also been made in Soviet-style on the tail and wings of the F-16 aircraft. This F-16 has the tail number N871TA and the bort number is ‘284’ red. It has previously served in the Israeli Air Force as ‘Netz 284’ and shot down a Syrian MiG-23 in 1981.
Is US afraid of the Su-57 fighter jet?
According to the Aviationist report, the two-tone scheme includes angular changes across the airframe, which mimics the radar-evading design of the T-50/Su-57. Earlier last year, another F-16 fighter jet from the Top Aces fleet was spotted in the “Flanker Blue” color, inspired by the scheme used by some F-16s of the US Air Force’s 64th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
In 2021, these aircraft were purchased from Israel by the US company Top Aces, which provides ‘adversary training’ for the US Air Force, i.e. training to fight against a simulated enemy.