Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon News and Developments

X-39 said:

F-16s to Serve Nearly Two More Decades, Replacement Choice Still 6-8 Years Away​


April 4, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Additional budget documents set to be released later this month will start to map an improvement program for the F-16, to support that type serving almost another two decades.
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Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom told Air Force Magazine in an interview. The jet will continue to be USAF’s low-end, multipurpose force builder.
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Rather than a high-low mix, Nahom said USAF’s future fighter force structure would be better described as a bell curve with the bulk being low/medium capability F-16s and medium/high capability F-35s. At the very low end would be a small number of aircraft only able to operate in permissive environments while the upper end would be aircraft like the F-22 and the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, tuned to the most demanding conditions.
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“So now, the question is, what replaces” the F-16...
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All of that, he said, is “a question for another day. The good thing is, we don’t have to do anything right now. We’ve got 18-20 years of life left on 600-plus F-16s that are doing great work for our nation.”
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https://www.airforcemag.com/f-16s-t...ades-replacement-choice-still-6-8-years-away/
Well well well, who could have imagined the Viper would be flying for nearly 70 years at the end of its life? At this point, why not upgrade them eventually with those juicy AETP derivative engines, and, maybe, Anti-Laser eXVS ala X-59 too?
Qjj3ljocAMiAjrQgjjmusytCnVi920-F-HDJxLqzcVs.jpg
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I would agree more fuel efficient engines for longer legs, but the 16 hardly needs more thrust. Idk but I have a hard time fathoming another 20 years of vipers. Other than Homeland defense, where are they going to operate without being flying radar reflectors? And we're going to retire raptors that are decades younger and magnitudes of order more capable? Our leadership's decisions are more deadly than the Chinese at this point. You built the the f35 now just buy the damned thing.
 
A lot of countries seem to be divesting themselves of older models, do people think a country like Ukraine might be a possible destination for these?
 
Crossing fingers. I see myself a lot of the adversary stuff as a good candidate for this (upgraded system, including sometime AESA radars and completed stock parts, including unwanted French missiles!).
 
JASSM fully integrated on USAF Block 30 F-16s

his is the first time a pre-block F-16, an older variation flown by 7 guard units and 2 reserve units, has been used to launch the long range missile.

“This was a significant test as it takes an older model F-16 and allows it to keep pace with and sometimes exceed the capabilities of younger F-16s,” said Lt. Col Dustin Brown, Director, F-16 combined test force.

Brown said tests like this are important in keeping the F-16 relevant in future conflicts.

“By validating the use of the JASSM with the pre-block F-16, we are ensuring that 4th generation aircraft are able to participate in major combat operations, and complement 5th generation aircraft missions.”
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https://www.dvidshub.net/news/42454...ances-air-reserve-component-combat-operations
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7307076/airmen-aatc-load-jassm-pre-block-f-16
 
Flyaway said:
A lot of countries seem to be divesting themselves of older models, do people think a country like Ukraine might be a possible destination for these?
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No. It would take the UKAF pilots one and a half to two years just to be able to become somewhat combat capable in these aircraft. Not to mention, the UKAF doesn't have any kind of a supply chain/maintenance capability set up for western aircraft and their systems.
 
Longer term, assuming the continuing survival of the Ukrainian state, something like an initial F-16 buy of some kind looks like a likely scenario.
 
Opportunistic Minnow said:
isayyo2 said:
JASSM fully integrated on USAF Block 30 F-16s
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Welcome news. The article really bugs me though. "Pre-block"? Do they mean early block? AIUI all production F-16s were members of one block or another. Surely the only pre-block F-16 would be the YF-16?
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"Pre-block" seems to be the shorthand USAF is using for the surviving Block 15, 25, and 30 aircraft, as opposed to "late block" referring to Block 40 and subsequent models.

https://www.airforcemag.com/f-16s-could-still-be-flying-into-the-2070s/
 
Sundog said:
Flyaway said:
A lot of countries seem to be divesting themselves of older models, do people think a country like Ukraine might be a possible destination for these?
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No. It would take the UKAF pilots one and a half to two years just to be able to become somewhat combat capable in these aircraft. Not to mention, the UKAF doesn't have any kind of a supply chain/maintenance capability set up for western aircraft and their systems.
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Yeah apologies I should have said in the longer term.
 
TomS said:
Opportunistic Minnow said:
isayyo2 said:
JASSM fully integrated on USAF Block 30 F-16s
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Welcome news. The article really bugs me though. "Pre-block"? Do they mean early block? AIUI all production F-16s were members of one block or another. Surely the only pre-block F-16 would be the YF-16?
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"Pre-block" seems to be the shorthand USAF is using for the surviving Block 15, 25, and 30 aircraft, as opposed to "late block" referring to Block 40 and subsequent models.

https://www.airforcemag.com/f-16s-could-still-be-flying-into-the-2070s/
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It's not a term I've really noticed until this year in publications, though it's been used internally by the Air Force for a few years or more.

Post Block: Block 40/42 and 50/52 F-16s that have gone through CCIP ~600 in service
Pre Block: Block 25 and Block 30/32 F-16s serving in the National Guard and Reserve force ~300 in service
  • The Block 25s should be out of frontline service by 2026 with some still serving in training and testing squadrons
  • Unsure when the Block 30/32 will be out of frontline service, they're still receiving a lot of love with "Software Capability Upgrades"
  • The Navy is receiving Block 25 and Block 32s for adversary work, the Navy's "new" F-16s will go under a comprehensive airframe life extension and receive the APG-83 radar. So clearly the older models will still be sticking around for some time...
 
Euugghh post-block is even worse! If you are that desperate for brevity that you can't specify the block in question, it doesn't seem like you have the time to be writing about the F-16 at all. Shorthand? Much as @isayyo2 has done, why don't they try newer and older? As conveyors of a concept go, they are reasonably universal and quite well tested.

It's a post-block.
Which block is it?
Block 52.
If it's a post-block, it can't be a Block 52 and if it's a Block 52, it can't be a post-block......sizzle......

I get it now. That right there is how you defeat an enemy AI!
 
While the aesa vipers are welcomed, I would rather they spend the money on actually acquiring the f35.
 
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Once Block 4 arrives the floodgates will truly open for the F-35; remember these planes are lasting until 2040 so they’ll end up in the Reserves, National Guard, and potentially sold to foreign users as well.
 
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They've been moving the goal post for years. Don't know why when blk4 comes out that congress will say "ok now build the thing!"
 
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I get your point but, they are a capability increase, now. Not in the far future which may change anyway.NGAD early for example.
 
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https://www.defensenews.com/news/yo...-his-ejection-seat-failed-was-it-counterfeit/
An Air Force investigation of a fatal fighter jet crash in 2020 quietly discovered that key components of the pilot’s ejection seat may have been counterfeit, Air Force Times has learned.

First Lt. David Schmitz, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot at South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base, died June 30, 2020, when his ejection seat malfunctioned as he tried to escape from a failed nighttime landing. He was 32.

The Air Force’s official inquiry in the months following the accident found that electronics inside the seat were scratched, unevenly sanded and showed otherwise shoddy craftsmanship.

That raised red flags at the Air Force Research Laboratory, which called for a closer look to confirm whether the pieces were fraudulent, according to previously unreported slides provided to Air Force Times. It’s unclear whether that question was ever answered.

While the Air Force suspected parts of the seat were counterfeit, it buried the information in a nonpublic section of its accident investigation report.
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32 more F-16 MLU's for Romania. Interesting to note the Tape upgrade to 6.5.2, they'll be some of the most advanced F-16s in Europe until the V models arrived.

Norway will sell 32 of its F-16 fighters to NATO partner Romania. The contract was signed on Nov. 4.
“The agreement signed by the NDMA will help strengthen the air power of one of our allies, at the same time as it will generate revenues for both Norwegian industry and the Norwegian state,” said Norwegian Minister of Defence, Bjørn Arild Gram.

All jets will be modified to the M6.5.2 Romanian configuration prior to delivery starting next year.
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https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktue...-salg-av-f-16-jagerfly-til-romania/id2945901/
 
How many early block F-16As have been converted into QF-16A target drones and will there be any QF-16B conversions?

On another note what is the likelihood in the next decade or two of the F-36 Kingsnake derivative of the F-16 being developed and put into production?
 

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