Skystriker XP-21F


 * The Skystriker is a G.I. Joe vehicle.

2010
As losses to the F-35's mounted, the G.I. Joe team was in need of a new Fighter Jet. A Pentagon study produced an Israeli built jet, the F-21A Kfir. It had been in service since 1975, in one form or another, but the latest model, the F-21A Kfir C.60 was testing as one of better jets, and would be able to enter a full production run much faster than the F-35. The U.S. had used the F-21A Kfir C.1M (Modified) as an agressor aircraft at Top Gun training of Naval pilot and for Dogfighting training of Marine Corp Pilot from 1985 - 1989.

2011
With this is mind, the Pentagon ordered a test run of 20 F-21A Kfir C.60, to be designated XP-21F Skystriker Mk II's, for the G.I. Joe Team to test. If they withstood the rigors of battle with Cobra better than the F-35's, they would become the G.I. Joe Team's primary jet fighter, replacing the F-35 and any other remaining older aircraft. The first 5 jets are scheduled to be delivered in December, with the remaining 15 due in January of 2012.

General characteristics

 * Crew: One
 * Length: 15.65 m (51 ft 4¼ in)
 * Wingspan: 8.22 m (26 ft 11½ in)
 * Height: 4.55 m (14 ft 11¼ in)
 * Wing area: 34.8 m² (374.6 sq ft)
 * Empty weight: 7,285 kg (16,060 lb)
 * Loaded weight: 11,603 kg (25,580 lb) two 500 L drop tanks, two AAMs
 * Max takeoff weight: 16,200 kg (35,715 lb)
 * Powerplant: 2 × IAl Bedek-built General Electric J-79-J1E turbojet Dry thrust: 52.9 kN (11,890 lb st)

Performance

 * Maximum speed: 2,440 km/h (1,317 knots, 1,516 mph) ('Mach: 2.3')
 * Combat radius: 768 km (477 mi) (ground attack, hi-lo-hi profile, seven 500 lb bombs, two AAMs, two 1,300 L drop tanks)
 * Service ceiling: 17,680 m (58,000 ft)
 * Rate of climb: 233 m/s (45,950 ft/min)

Armament

 * Guns: 2× Rafael-built 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannons, 140 rounds/gun
 * Hardpoints: 9
 * Rockets: assortment of unguided air-to-ground rockets including the Matra JL-100 drop tank/rocket pack, each with 19× SNEB 68 mm rockets and 66 US gallons (250 liters) of fuel
 * Missiles: 2× AIM-9 Sidewinders or Shafrir or Python-series AAMs; 2× Shrike ARMs; 2× AGM-65 Maverick ASMs
 * Bombs: 5,775 kg (12,730 lb) of payload on nine external hardpoints, including bombs such as the Mark 80 series, Paveway series of LGBs, Griffin LGBs, TAL-1 OR TAL-2 CBUs, BLU-107 Matra Durandal, reconnaissance pods or Drop tanks

Variations
Skystriker XP-14F - Original Skystriker based on the F-14 Tomcat Night Boomer - All Black Version of the XP-14F, used by Night Force