A Lightning Protection Program for the F-16 Fly-By-Wire System

The General Dynamics F-16 aircraft represents the beginning of a new era in Flight Control System design. The F-16 is the first operational aircraft with a fly-by-wire system where flight control is completely dependent on electrical/electronic circuitry. Because of this fly-by-wire system, a program was conducted to design the aircraft against the effects of lightning. Particular concern was paid to lightning-induced voltages and currents which could be coupled into the flight critical systems and subsequently cause damage to sensitive electronic components. This paper is an account of the lightning susceptibility test program performed on the F-16 fly-by-wire system and how that system was hardened against the effects of lightning.