BAHRAIN IS FIRST CUSTOMER
FOR BLOCK 70 F-
LOCKHEED MARTIN HAS received a
$1.2-billion contract from the US Air
Force that provides for the production
of 16 new Block 70 F-16Vs for the
Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF). The
advanced ghters will be the rst
F-16s produced at the contractor’s
Greenville, South Carolina, facility. TheBlock 70 features advanced avionics,
an active electronically scanned array
(AESA) radar, a modernized cockpit,
advanced weapons, conformal fuel
tanks, an automatic ground collision
avoidance system and an advanced
engine, and has a 12,000-hour service
life. Deliveries should be completedby September 2023. Lockheed Martin
and its predecessor General Dynamics
have produced 4,604 F-16s for 27
customers and approximately 3,
remain in service with 25 air forces.
Lockheed Martin is enjoying
something of a resurgence of the
F-16 thanks to the deal from Bahrainand an expected order from Slovakia.
Speaking at the Farnborough
International Air Show on July 17,
Randy Howard, the company’s chief
of F-16 business development, said
Slovakia was becoming the 28th F-
customer as it beat o competition
from the Saab Gripen. It will purchase
14 F-16V Block 70 jets, subject to
nal contract.
The rst aircraft built in Greenville
will be the RBAF examples, which are
likely to appear in 2022. Lockheed
Martin says it expects to see as many
as 200 additional F-16s (excluding
an Indian Air Force decision) being
ordered by customers around
the world, which would keep the
production line active until 2030.An artist’s rendition
of a Block 70 F-
for Bahrain. The
fi ghters will be
built at Lockheed
Martin’s facility in
Greenville, South
Carolina.
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HE ROYAL AIR Force marked
its centenary in style on
July 10 with a large ypast
over central London. With
100 aircraft taking part, the
centerpiece was provided
by a 22-ship formation of Euro ghter
Typhoons in a ‘100’ formation, plus a trio
of Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightnings
from the newly re-formed No 617
Squadron ‘Dambusters’.
The RAF’s actual 100th anniversary
was on April 1. A host of smaller
celebrations led up to the main event
— the 100-aircraft ypast over the Mall
and Buckingham Palace. While there
have been larger RAF ypasts — that
for the Queen’s Coronation Review at
RAF Odiham on July 15, 1953 involved
641 aircraft, for example — it proved to
be a spectacular occasion and o ered
a welcome opportunity to put the RAF
under the spotlight for the general
public to appreciate.A trio of No 617 Squadron F-35Bs fl ies
down the Mall on July 10.
Crown Copyright/Cpl Tim LaurenceHEADLINES [NEWS]
http://www.combataircraft.net // September 2018 07
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