Rockwell F-20 Wyvern

*Air Force: 2400 Aircraft*
*Navy 8000 Aircraft*
*Marines 1600 Aircraft*
**Australia: 1000 Aircraft**
*Air Force: 700 Aircraft*
*Navy: 300 Aircraft*
**Japan: 1700 Aircraft**
*Air Force: 1700*
**Canada: 500 Aircraft**
*Air Force: 400 aircraft*
*Navy: 100 Aircraft*
**Singapore: 100 Aircraft**

## Design and Development

The F-20 Wyvern is among numerous swept wing fighters that have emerged after the F-14s retirement. It was birthed as part of a joint PTO project to develop a land and carrier capable interceptor. With devolpment initialy slow. The work picked up pace from 2022 onwards

The F-20 Wyvern incorporates an uncommon design with variable geometry technology and a forward-swept wing configuration. As the aircraft gains speed, the forward-swept wings and vertical stabilizers fold inward and downward respectively to reduce air drag, and retract to their neutral position once it slows down. This unconventional design grants it an extreme degree of mobility and the folded wings add a degree of stealth. However, this comes at a cost to the aircraft's armor (which is scaled back to provide such mobility) as well as its fuel capacity. The aircraft is carrier-capable, though is equally capable of taking off from standard airfields.

The F-20 incorporates a weapons bay between the intakes on the underside of the aircraft. This weapons bay is capable of carrying all kinds of special weapons, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, and various bomblet dispensers. The aircraft's standard missiles are launched from downwards retractable holders located on the undersides of each intake. The X-20 is powered by two tri-dimensional thrust vectoring ERG-1000 engines.

## Operators

### Australia

In May of 2003 Australia placed an order for 1000 aircraft. 700 for the Air Force and 300 for the Navy. As of March 2014 all 1000 aircraft are in service

### Canada

In May of 2008 Canada placed an order for 500 aircraft. 400 for the Air force and 100 for the Navy. As of 2015 all 500 aircraft are in service.

### Germany

Germany placed an order in March of 2009 for 500 F-20S. As of 2013 all 500 are in service

### Japan

In 2014 Japan placed an order for 1700 aircraft for its Air Force. As of 2023 all 1700 aircraft are delivered.

### Philippines

The Philippines placed an order of 300 aircraft in July of 2022 to replace their fleet of F-16s. As of 2025 all 300 are in service.

### Singapore

In July of 2019 Singapore placed an order for 100 aircraft. As of 2021 all 100 aircraft are delivered.

### South Korea

South Korea placed an order for in December of 2021 700 F-20s. As of 2026 all 700 F-20s are in service

### USA

The USA has 4800 F-02s in service as of 2025. Of these 2400 belong to the air force, 8000 to the navy, and 1600 to the marines.

## Failed bids

### Poland

Poland had shown interest in replacing their aging F-15 S/TMDs with F/A-27s or F-20s. Ultimately the F/A-27 was prefered by the Polish Military.

## Variants

* F-20A - Single seat Land based variant
* F-20B - Two seat Training variant
* F-20C - Single seat Naval variant
* F-20D - Improved F-20a with a less maintenance intensive airframe and better sensors.
* F-20E - Improved F-20C with a less maintenance intensive airframe and better sensors.
* F-20F - Two seat Naval Variant
* F-20H - Downgraded export variant
* F-20I - Isreali Variant
* F-20J - Export variant designed with improved STOL capability and a less maintenance intensive airframe.
* F-20K - Proposed dedicated ground attack variant. Cancelled in favor of F-20S.
* F-20L - Proposed turkish variant made with local avionics and engines. Turkey chose to pursue indigenous fighter aircraft instead.
* F-20M - Proposed electronic warfare variant. Cancelled in favor of F-20S.
* F-20N - Proposed anti satelite variant. Cancelled in favor of F-20S.
* F-20P - Proposed Polish variant. Lost to the F/A-27.
* F-20Q - Cancelled Qatari variant
* F-20R - Export model fitted with Russian avionics.
* F-20S - Two seat All Weather improved variant. Armed with electromagnetic railguns.

## Specifications

The aircraft's specifications are as follows:

* **Length:** 21.84 m (71.65 ft)
* **Wingspan**
	+ **Outer wings deployed:** 18.3 m (60.04 ft)
	+ **Outer wings stowed:** 11.54 m (37.86 ft)
* **Height**
	+ **Outer wings deployed:** 4.36 m (14.30 ft)
	+ **Outer wings stowed:** 3.42 m (11.22 ft)
* **Weight:** 16,800 kg (37,000 pounds)
* **Engines:** 2× ERG-1000
* **Combat radius:** 1,050 km (650 miles)
* **Top speed:** Mach 2.5 (3,063 km/h; 1,903 mph; 1,654 kn)

### Armament

* **Guns:** 1 M61A2 Vulcan rotary cannon, 3600 rounds
* **Internal Weapons Bays:**
	+ **Star Fire anti-ship missiles**
	+ **Dark Fire" medium-range air-to-air missiles**
	+ **AGM-158C LRASM**
	+ **AGM-88 HARM**
	+ **AGM-179 JAGM**
	+ **JDAM**
	+ **GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs**
	+ **AGM-154 JSOW**
	+ **GBU-53/B StormBreaker (Small Diameter Bomb II)(XSDP)**
	+ **B61 Mod 12 Nuclear Bomb**