The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multi-purpose aircraft designed by the American General Dynamics company. Since 1993, it has been produced by Lockheed Martin. It is used by the air forces of several dozen countries around the world. The first F-16s were delivered to Poland at the end of 2006 and are still in service today. The Fighting Falcon is a 4th generation fighter designed and put into mass production in the 1970s. The latest versions of the aircraft meet the requirements of generation 4.5 fighters. The F-16 aircraft have repeatedly participated in combat operations as attack and fighter aircraft. They were used for the first time in combat by Israel on June 7, 1981 during the attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq. The first foreign aircraft shot down by an F-16 was in 1981: a Soviet-made Syrian MiG-21 fighter. The most extensive mass use of F-16 aircraft took place in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. As many as 249 of the jet fighters took part in combat! Later, the F-16 fought in Pakistan, Afghanistan and took part in many other combat operations.