which 143 Filo was established as the
local training unit.
Starting from the 44th aircraft,
manufacturing switched to the improved
Block 40, starting at serial 88-0033. This
resulted in Peace Onyx I being completed
upon delivery of the last Block 40,
serial 93-0014.
Impressively, TAI had manufactured 70
per cent of these airframes, including the
middle and rear fuselages and wings. The
last Turkish CF-104s at Diyarbakır were
replaced by the last Block 40s between
1993-1995. Notably, the Bandırma-based
Block 40s were the rst to feature the
LANTIRN (Low-Altitude Navigation anda $4.2-billion deal. It’s worth noting that
Turkey contributed $1 billion, a further
$1.5 billion being nanced through
an o set agreement between the US
and Turkey in the form of component
manufacture, and the remaining $1.7
billion through the Foreign Military Sales
(FMS) program. It resulted in the rst
eight jets being manufactured by General
Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas, while the
remaining 152 aircraft were built by TAI.
It was the start of a highly successful
technological evolution for TAI,
with facilities at Mürted in Ankara,
established as a joint US venture in
1985 for F-16 production and ight-test. In addition, in 1985 TEI (Turkish
Engine Industries) set up a factory at
Eskişehir to produce the General Electric
F110 engine under license for the new
Turkish aircraft.
The THK received its rst two F-16C
Block 30s (serials 86-0066 and 86-0067)
direct from General Dynamics in March- Four F-16Ds were retained in the
US for initial pilot quali cation training
until October 1987, before delivery to
Mürted in October of that year. The rst
TAI-manufactured F-16C (a Block 30,
86-0068) was delivered to the THK after
a functional test ight by TAI test pilot
Şener Koltuk on October 11, 1987, after
Above: Carrying
GBU-10 laser-
guided bombs,
a 191 Filo F-16C
bounces on
landing at
Malatya. It also
carries a Sniper
targeting pod.
Below left: Recent
changes saw
143 Filo moving
to Merzifon and
becoming 153
Filo ‘Öncel’,
which remains
the Turkish F-16
training unit.One of the 14 Peace Onyx IV F-16D
Block 50+ aircraft, which feature the
extended spine for avionics.FORCE REPORT // TURKISH F-16S
76 July 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
74-79 Turkish F-16s C.indd 76 22/05/2018 15:53