Lockheed Martin is continuing to develop potential new-build sales of the F-16 Fighting Falcon in Europe as well as upgrade opportunities for the aircraft, officials have said.
โWe have seen a great resurgence in the F-16, which we had not expected to see a few years ago. Now we are staring at a potential of up to 400 additional aircraft worldwide. For Lockheed Martin, we view the countries buying F-16 as being on the path to the F-35 [Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter],โ executive vice president for Aeronautics Michele Evans told Janeโs .
Lockheed Martin is working on expanding sales of the new F-16V in Europe, as well as upgrades to V standard. (Lockheed Martin /Randy A. Crites)
โSo that will be the capabilities that we want to transition to those countries as well,โ Evans added.
In Europe, the company is working on targeting upgrades to the F-16V for legacy operators of the platform, as well as selling new-build aircraft.
The company re-established its F-16 production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, as F-35 production in Fort Worth, Texas, expanded.
โWe have all the options on the table for customers with legacy Block 40 and Block 50 aircraft to consider โ we will be able to upgrade those, and if countries want new-build aircraft we can also provide those,โ Evans said.
The company is also working to harmonise technology upgrades between the F-35 and the F-16, with some technology developed for the F-35 flowing back to the F-16. Similarly, some F-16 upgrades, such as the auto-ground collision avoidance system, have been installed on the F-35 to help realise capability sooner.
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