Fighter Mafia

The Fighter Mafia was a controversial group of United States Air Force officers and civilian defense analysts who, in the 1960s and 1970s, advocated for fighter design criteria in opposition to those of the design boards of the time, and the use of John Boyd and Thomas P. Christie's energy-maneuverability (E-M) theory in designing fighter aircraft. The Mafia influenced the specifications for the F-X Program and went on to independently develop specifications for the Light Weight Fighter (LWF).[1][2] Mafia member Harry Hillaker designed the purely air superiority day fighter prototype YF-16, which won the LWF contest but then turned into the multi-role F-16 Fighting Falcon. The group's nickname, a professional jest coined by Everest Riccioni,[3] an Air Force member of Italian heritage, was a rejoinder to the "Bomber Mafia".

  1. ^ Bjorkman, Eileen. "The Outrageous Adolescence of the F-16". Air & Space Magazine.
  2. ^ Hehs, Eric (15 April 1991). "F-16 Designer Harry Hillaker". Code One Magazine.
  3. ^ "Member of Fighter Mafia Passes". Project On Government Oversight. 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2021-03-16. Colonel Everest E. "Rich" Riccioni USAF (ret.) passed away on April 15 in Monument, Colorado, at the age of 91.