The Air Force Falcons will honor the F-16 Fighting Falcon with their latest Air Power Legacy Series uniforms, which will debut at Navy on Oct. 4 (12 p.m. ET on CBS).
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a supersonic fighter jet developed in 1974 by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin). It was designed for air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attacks and is the world’s most common fixed-wing aircraft, with more than 2,000 currently in military service.
Naturally, the all-gray uniforms pull inspiration from the color of the aircraft while the helmets replicate a fighter pilot’s helmet and visor cover, with a Fighting Falcon patch on the left side and “Psycho” on the right side as a nod to Col. William Andrews.
Andrews, a 1980 gradate of the United States Air Force Academy, was one of the most decorated airmen of Operation Desert Storm and received the Air Force Cross for heroism after being shot down and being held as a prisoner of war.
Although the aircraft is officially named the Fighting Falcon, it is commonly referred to by its nickname, “Viper,” among crew and pilots. Thus, “Viper” is written on the back helmet bumper and down the left pant leg, while “Fighting Falcon” is displayed down the right leg.
The jerseys, which feature a familiar “Air Force” wordmark above numbers that match the aircraft’s tail fin, have an American flag and squadron patch on the sleeves, player name and squadron patch on the right shoulder and tail flash of the squadron on the nameplate.
There are three bases, two squadrons and two wings represented, including the 120th Fighter Squadron and 140th Wing from Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado, the 555th Fighter Squadron in Italy and the 20th Fighter Wing from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
This marks the 10th iteration of the Air Power Legacy Series uniforms, as the Falcons honored Tiger Shark nose art in 2016, the F-35 Lighting II in 2017, the AC-130 “Spooky” gunship in 2018, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III in 2019, the Tuskegee Airmen in 2020, the B-52 Stratofortress in 2021, the Space Force in 2022, the Doolittle Raid in 2023 and the Special Operations Command in 2024.
Air Force is 16-3 in the Air Power Legacy Series uniforms since they debuted, including a 34-7 loss to the Midshipmen last October and a 36-28 win over Fresno State last November. It’s likely they’ll be worn twice this season, as well.
Photos courtesy of @AF_Football on X/Twitter.
