WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio – Aerial warfare experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build eight new F-16 jet fighter aircraft for the government of Bulgaria under terms of a potential $151.4 million contract announced last month.
Officials of the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas, to build the modern F-16 Block 70 combat jets for Bulgaria, a U.S. ally in Central Europe.
The Block 70 F-16 aircraft is the newest and most advanced F-16 production configuration, with the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other advanced sensors. This variant, called the Viper, first flew in October 2015, and has a center pedestal display, and a modernized mission computer.
The Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 features the most advanced fourth-generation fighter aircraft capabilities in NATO’s inventory today, company officials say. The F-16 has been flying since 1974.
The plane also has structural upgrades to extend the structural life of the aircraft. Avionics includes an advanced data link, targeting pod, weapons, GPS navigation, and automatic ground collision avoidance system (Auto GCAS).
The F-16 Block 70 features technologies developed for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor jet fighters in a low-risk solution for allied and NATO defense needs, Lockheed Martin officials say. More than 700 F-16s are flying in Europe.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Fort Worth, Texas, and Greenville, S.C., and should be finished by September 2027. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Aeronautics online at www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics.html, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at www.aflcmc.af.mil.
