F-16A/B Fighting Falcon fighter

The US Government has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to upgrade the Republic of China Air Force’s (ROCAF) ageing fleet of 145 General Dynamics-built Block 20 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft.

Valued at up to $1.85bn, the contract forms part of the $3.8bn arms package approved by the US Congress in September 2011. The package was subsequently agreed by the country’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) in August 2012.

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Under the contract, Lockheed will install an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, embedded global positioning system (GPS), and upgrade the aircraft’s electronic warfare and avionics systems.

Lockheed Martin F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group vice president and general manager, Jeff Babione, said the upgrade programme enhances the strong value proposition associated with commonality between the US Air Force’s F-16 programme and the fighter’s customers worldwide.

"Based on elements of the F-16V configuration, Taiwan’s air force will receive the most advanced F-16 upgrades," Babione added.

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Unveiled by the company in February 2012, the F-16 Viper features AESA radar, an upgraded mission computer and architecture, and cockpit improvements.

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Additional F-16 upgrades include the installation of AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, joint direct attack munition (JDAM) guidance kits, helmet mounted cueing system (JHMCS), inertial navigation system, night vision goggles (NVGs) and the Terma ALQ-213 electronic warfare management system.

Powered by a single Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 turbofan engines, the F-16 A/B is an initial production variant of the F-16 multirole jet fighter, featuring AIM-7M Sparrow, AIM-9M and P4 Sidewinder, AGM-65 Maverick missiles and Westinghouse AN/APG-66(V)3 fire-control radars.

The jets are currently operated by Taiwan to conduct air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack missions.

Image: A USAF’s F-16 fighter taxies towards the runway at Aero India 2011 in Bangalore. Photo: courtesy of Pritishp333.