The F-16 Block 70 could do a great job in the Ukraine and probably never will – but it still has very much a global footprint, as Jon Lake reports
The latest and most advanced variant of the F-16 to date, the Block 70/72, completed its maiden flight earlier this year at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville facility in South Carolina. This F-16 Block 70 was a two-seater, the first of 16 aircraft intended for the Royal Bahraini Air Force. For its first flight on January 24, 2023 the aircraft was crewed by Lockheed Martin test pilots Dwayne ‘Pro’ Opella and Monessa ‘Siren’ Balzhiser. The 50-minute flight included a preliminary look at basic aircraft handling and allowed the crew to conduct a series of airworthiness checks, including engine, flight control and fuel systems.
Everything that made the original YF-16 ground-breaking when it first flew on February 2, 1974, remains impressive – even by today’s standards. The F-16 wrote the book when it came to agility and sheer kinematic performance and the type remains highly regarded as a within-visual-range dogfighter, having also picked up a range of air-to-ground, suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) and even beyond-visual-range (BVR) competences since then.
AESA Radar
The basic engine/airframe combination is still extremely competitive, and it should come as no surprise that the Fighting Falcon is still in production today, nor that its manufacturer (and a host of other entities) should seek to bring its avionics, weapons systems, defensive aids and sensors bang up to date.
Nor should it come as any surprise that the highest priority was to replace the F-16’s legacy mechanically scanned radar with a modern active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. AESA will almost always represent a major boost in capability compared to an M-scan radar, and can offer a generational improvement in capability.
AESA radars offer major benefits in terms of speed, range and fidelity of target acquisition, detecting them at longer range and producing tracks with greater precision, resulting in earlier and more accurate engagement. Advanced AESAs, like the AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), can also be used for non-co-operative target recognition (NCTR), identifying and categorizing targets based on their radar signature alone, matching a radar return signature to a specific type of aircraft by its shape and even the number of fan blades on the target's engine.
The increased power and precision of the AN/APG-83 improves its synthetic aperture mapping capabilities, producing higher-resolution images. Some AESA radars also have innate electronic protection and attack capabilities, using highly focused beams of electromagnetic energy to non-kinetically disrupt or even damage the electronics within enemy aircraft, missiles, and other systems.
AESA radars are far more reliable than M-scan radars, with no need for a heavy and failure-prone mechanism to mechanically steer the dish and with multiple transmit/receive modules. They can also offer low probability of intercept (LPI) operation and better resilience and resistance to enemy jamming.
The Block 70/72 represents Lockheed Martin’s best attempt to build the very best F-16 that it can, fit to meet the challenges of the 21st Century battlespace and offering many of the capabilities of the fifth-generation F-35 at a fraction of the cost. Interestingly, though, the new-build Block 70/72 is actually a new-build version of the F-16V upgrade configuration – originally developed for the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) – and not the other way round.
F-16V: Upgrading the Viper
The F-16 is the most widely operated fighter in service today, with 2,180 single-seat variants and 620 two-seat trainers flying with 25 nations. This makes the type an obvious target for upgrade providers. The F-16E/F Block 60 for the United Arab Emirates demonstrated what the F-16 could be, with its AN/APG-80 AESA radar and advanced avionics, but development of this variant had been paid for by the Emiratis and it was not available to other operators. Nor was Japan’s Mitsubishi F-2 – an F-16 based design with an indigenous Japanese AESA radar. Though these two aircraft proved revelatory in service, it was some time before another AESA-equipped F-16 variant emerged.
Development of a new AESA-equipped F-16 variant began after the Obama administration killed off a Taiwanese effort to acquire 66 F-16C/D Block 50/52s in 2006. This acquisition was abandoned as a result of pressure from the People’s Republic of China, after Beijing made it clear that it would regard any sale of new-build F-16s to Taiwan (the Republic of China, ROC) as a red line. Instead, it was decided that the ROCAF’s aging F-16A/Bs would be upgraded, though the proposed upgrade rapidly grew in scope and depth.
This upgrade originally aimed to replace the current MMC with the latest available model and to add some other systems to bring the Taiwanese Block 20s to an equivalent standard to the latest Block 50/52 models. But the upgrade became progressively more ambitious and it soon represented a far more advanced standard than the Block 50/52 configuration that had so exercised mainland China. The new configuration was allocated the out-of-sequence designation suffix ‘V’ – a tip of the hat to the F-16’s unofficial name of ‘Viper’.
Crucially, it was decided that this F-16V upgrade would include the installation of an AESA radar, something that was then only fitted to the UAE’s F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcons.
BAE upgrade abandoned
Efforts to fit the F-16C/D with an AESA radar began in earnest in May 2009, when South Korea – the Republic of Korea – made an official request for equipment and services in support of its planned upgrade (led by BAE Systems) of 35 F-16C/D Block 32 aircraft (known in Korea as KF-16s). The scope of the upgrade was subsequently expanded to 134 aircraft.
At that time, the US government made it clear that the Raytheon AN/APG-84 Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) was the only suitable AESA radar that was available for export. RACR was a scaled-down version of the Super Hornet’s AN/APG-79, and was initially known as the Raytheon Next Generation Radar. It used much of the existing architecture and active technologies of the AN/APG-79, and of the modernized F-15E Strike Eagle’s AN/APG-82.
RACR’s tenure as the only AESA game in town was brief, since Northrop Grumman quickly offered its AN/APG-83 SABR, which was based on the F-16E/F’s AN/APG-80 and the F-35’s AN/APG-81. It was designed as a drop-in replacement for existing F-16 radars, with no ‘Group-A’ structural or wiring modifications required on the aircraft. The upgraded radar therefore included its own liquid cooling heat exchanger and was able to fit within the same space, and to use the same radome.
The BAE-led upgrade was abandoned in November 2014, following Foreign Military Sales (FMS) price increases by the US government. Work on the conversion of a single-seat F-16C and a twin-seat F-16D as prototypes probably never started in earnest, though they had arrived at BAE Systems’ facility at Alliance Airport, Texas, in June 2014. In December 2015, South Korea selected Lockheed Martin to undertake its KF-16 upgrade project, and also switched to the SABR radar.
Koreans get the go ahead
The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) received 180 F-16s of all models. These included 30 F-16C Block 32s; ten F-16D Block 32s; 95 KF-16C Block 52s and 45 KF-16D Block 52s. In total, 18 of the KF-16Cs were converted to RF-16C standard, able to carry Elbit Systems’ Condor 2 reconnaissance pod.
About 164 aircraft remain in service, comprising 27 F-16Cs, eight F-16Ds, 70 KF-16Cs, 41 KF-16Ds and 18 RF-16Cs. These equip the 19th Fighter Wing (155th FS; 161st FS and 162nd FS) at K-75 Chungju Air Base (AB); the 20th Fighter Wing (120th FS; 121st FS; 123rd FS and 157th FS) at K-76 Seosan-Haemi AB and the 38th Fighter Group at K-8 Gunsan AB (Kunsan AFB). The latter has a single F-16 unit, the 111th FS, which is subordinated to the 10th Fighter Wing at Suwon AB. The 39th Reconnaissance Wing is also based at Chungju, with the RF-16Cs of the 159th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.
These nine frontline units are augmented by the 191st Tactical Training Squadron and the 192nd Tactical Development Squadron, which equip the 29th Tactical Fighter Weapons Group at Cheongju. All operate the KF-16 Block 52, except the 161st and 162nd, which are equipped with the Block 32 aircraft.
The US State Department approved a possible $2.5bn FMS of the KF-16 Upgrade Program to South Korea on July 15, 2015. This covered the upgrade of 134 aircraft to F-16V-standard, including the installation of Modular Mission Computers and AESA radars. A contract was subsequently placed with Lockheed Martin in 2016.
By February 2021, one ROKAF-operated KF-16D Block 52N (serial 92-4046), possibly the prototype for the conversion, was deployed to Edwards AFB, California, to conduct tests and was temporarily assigned to the 416th Flight Test Squadron of the USAF’s 412th Test Wing.
In March 2020, the US State Department approved a possible FMS to South Korea for certain upgrades to the ROKAF’s F-16 Block 32s as part of the Peace Bridge Upgrade (PBU). This included the transfer of Mode 5 Identification Friend-or-Foe packages and Link-16 Tactical Datalink (TDL) equipment.
Taiwan’s upgrade
Meanwhile, a formal request for Taiwan’s F-16 upgrade had been issued and approved in 2011, and the ‘Peace Phoenix Rising’ upgrade program was launched. This was initially expected to cover the upgrade of 144 surviving F-16 Block 20s, but three aircraft were later lost to attrition and the total number of aircraft to be upgraded was reduced to 141, at an estimated cost of $5.3bn. Most importantly, the Taiwanese upgrade entailed replacing the existing AN/APG-66(V)3 radar with the an AESA radar, with Taiwan soon settling on Northrop Grumman’s AN-APG-83 SABR.
The upgrade also included: a new Modular Mission Computer; a modern commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based avionics subsystem; a high-volume, high-speed databus; compatibility with the Rockwell Collins-Elbit Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS II); a new Center Pedestal Display (CPD); a Link 16 TDL; Multifunction Information Distribution System-Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS-JTRS); a new Embedded GPS/INS (Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System) and upgraded electronic warfare equipment based on the Terma ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management System, with an upgraded AN/ALR-56M radar warning receiver; and a variety of electronic countermeasure pods, including, in Taiwan’s case, the ALQ-184.
A second phase of the upgrade (Peace Phoenix Rising 2) will add new capabilities for the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS); radar software improvements; an APX-126 Combined Identification Friend-or-Foe interrogator transponder and integration of a suite of new weapons, including the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM).
The F-16V was fitted with an upgraded landing gear and an uprated F100-PW-229 engine, allowing it to carry more fuel and heavier weapon loads. For targeting, the F-16V was compatible with the Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Targeting System or the Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-28 Litening Targeting System (Taiwan opting for the former), and weapons options include Boeing’s GBU-31 and GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), GBU-54 Laser JDAMs; GBU-10 Enhanced Paveway II and GBU-24 Enhanced Paveway III dual-mode bombs, as well as CBU-105 Sensor Fused Weapons. For stand-off attacks, the F-16V can carry the AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-154 JSOW, and AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER missiles. For air-to-air use, the aircraft is armed with AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
At one stage, it seemed as though much of the Taiwanese upgrade would ‘piggy-back’ on the USAF’s Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) program, which was to have been upgraded with the new AESA radar and a new cockpit display, along with datalink enhancements and an improved defensive suite. The USAF abandoned its parallel upgrade in the FY15 budget, forcing Taiwan to take on additional test-related costs.
Two prototype conversions were undertaken by Lockheed Martin at Fort Worth, Texas, using aircraft that had been retained stateside for test duties as part of the Peace Fenghuang (Chinese for Phoenix) program. The first was F-16A Block 20 (serial 6601/93-0702), which made its maiden flight as an F-16V on October 16 or 21, 2015. The second was F-16B (serial 6801/93-0822).
The in-country upgrade effort was delayed due to software testing issues, but the state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC, also known as the Hanxiang Company) finally began work on the first four F-16s in early 2017. The first local conversion – F-16A (serial 6626/93-0727) – made its first flight after conversion in August 2018, inaugurating an intensive flight test campaign, mainly flown by Lockheed Martin test pilots. AIDC was soon converting 24 aircraft per year, and the first F-16V was delivered to Chiayi (at the time coyly referred to as an air base in central Taiwan) in October 2018.
The ROCAF declared an initial combat capability with the F-16V in March 2021, and upgraded this to a declaration of Full Operational Capability on November 18, 2021, when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen oversaw the commissioning ceremony of the upgraded F-16V with the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing’s (TFW’s) 21st Tactical Fighter Group. The ROCAF said then that the service already had 64 of the upgraded fighters in its inventory.
The 100th F-16V aircraft – former F-16A (serial 6673) – finished high-speed taxi tests on December 16, 2022, one day after the final F-16A (serial 6621) was shipped from Hualien AB (home of the 5th TFW) to the AIDC’s Shalu plant at Taichung International Airport. The converted F-16Vs will eventually fully equip the 4th TFW and the 5th TFW at Hualien AB, with three and four F-16 groups, respectively.
Taiwanese sources claim that the F-16V Block 20 is 1.8 times more effective, 2.2 times better at threat detection, 2.45 times better at co-operative engagements and 1.6 times better at weapons integration, compared to the pre-upgrade Block 20 model.
Singapore’s F-16 upgrade
Another F-16 operator in the Indo-Pacific region that sought to upgrade its aircraft was Singapore. The nation procured 22 single-seat F-16Cs and 40 two-seat F-16Ds, after first purchasing four F-16As and four F-16Bs, seven of which were sold on to Thailand in 2005, once the C/D fleet deliveries had been completed.
Singapore’s F-16 Block 52s are already among the most advanced of the breed, compatible with the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile and the AIM-120 AMRAAM, but also believed to be equipped with advanced Israeli EW equipment (including the SPS-3000 EW suite), and probably DASH-3 Helmet Mounted Sights and Python 4 missiles. They equip three frontline units at Tengah AB: Nos 140, 143 and 145 Squadron.
Some 60 Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16s are also being upgraded to a broadly similar standard to the Taiwanese F-16V configuration (including the AN/APG-83 radar, a new mission computer and JHMCS II). The US State Department permitted Singapore to upgrade its fleet of 20 F-16C Block 52s, 20 F-16D Block 52s and 20 F-16D Advanced Block 52 aircraft in January 2014. A prototype conversion was undertaken by Lockheed Martin, and “initial deliveries” of the upgraded aircraft from ST Aero began in June 2021.
Greece goes for Viper
The Hellenic Air Force has taken delivery of a total of 170 F-16 aircraft, including 40 F-16C/D Block 30s, 40 Block 50s, and 90 Block 52s. Greece announced a $1.5bn eight-year upgrade of 84 F-16C/D Block 52+ and Block 52+ Advanced (Block 52M) to the latest F-16V standard on October 2017, though an attrition loss later reduced the program total to 83.
The first two of a total of 83 upgraded F-16Vs (serials 06-0005 and 06-0006) arrived at Tanagra AB, Greece, on September 12, 2022, and six more were expected to follow by year end. A number of customers for new-build Block 70/72 aircraft have also opted to upgrade surviving F-16C/Ds to the new standard, including Morocco, but these were incidental to the Block 70/72 purchases.
Unleashing the Block 70/72
Before the advent of the F-16V, the Fighting Falcon production line looked likely to run out of work once the final Iraqi aircraft – an F-16C Block 52 (serial 1636/13-0031) – was delivered, ending 40 years of F-16 production at Fort Worth. In 2016, with no orders booked, Lockheed Martin even admitted the possibility of ending F-16 production for good. This was not unexpected, and it had always planned to shut down its F-16 production line at Fort Worth to ‘make room’ for growing F-35 production numbers.
But by the time that final Iraqi F-16C was actually delivered on November 14, 2017, a Bahraini order for 18 F-16 Block 70s had been approved, and further orders for the new variant were being negotiated. Therefore, Lockheed Martin decided to move the F-16 production to its Greenville facility, where it had previously planned to build the Lockheed Martin-Korea Aerospace Industries T-50A if that aircraft had won the USAF’s T-X next-generation trainer competition.
Instead of moving F-16 production to a dusty storage facility it was used to equip a new production line in Greenville, South Carolina. The new line incorporated “new digital engineering technologies” that were implemented in order to “maximize efficiency and decrease span time”. The new factory in Greenville opened three years after the Fort Worth F-16 line closed, launching on November 11, 2019 (Veteran’s Day). Israel Aerospace Industries resumed production at its F-16 wing assembly line and shipped wing sets to Greenville for final assembly. The new factory was the result of a teaming between Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate.
The Block 70/72 (which does not officially use the F-16V designation) is, to all intents and purposes, a new-build F-16V. In an era in which fighters are expected to serve for decades, one often over-looked but vital upgrade is structural, and the Block 70/72 has a 12,000 hour airframe life – compared to the original aircraft’s 6,000 flying hour limit.
But development of the Block 70/72 was driven more by capability than by longevity, and the single biggest improvement to the type lies in the installation of the AN/APG-83 SABR AESA radar, together with the other main F-16V enhancements, including new cockpit displays, a new Raytheon mission computer, a Link 16 TDL, an enhanced electronic warfare system and a ground collision avoidance system.
One difference between the upgraded F-16V and the new-build Block 70/72 lies in its ejection seat. The most recent orders from Morocco, Taiwan and Jordan will see the aircraft fitted with Martin-Baker’s US18E ejection seat in place of the Collins Aerospace Advanced Concept Ejection Seat (ACES II) used by all other F-16s (except the two YF-16 prototypes).
Rolling out the Block 70/72
The first F-16 Block 70/72s started to roll off the production line in Q4 2022, about 12 months behind schedule, due to “an international supplier’s staffing difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic”. The first aircraft was a F-16D Block 70 for the Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF). On November 21, 2022, Lockheed Martin published a photo of this aircraft under tow at Greenville, complete and fully painted.
Already an operator of 21 F-16C/Ds, Bahrain had become the launch customer for the F-16V when it signed a $1.12bn contract for 16 new Block 70 aircraft (ten F-16Cs and six F-16Ds) in June 2018, though the original US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approval had been for 19 aircraft. In September 2017, the US State Department had also given its approval for a $1bn project to update the RBAF’s 20 surviving Block 40-standard aircraft to the V-model standard.
Slovakia announced that it would purchase 14 F-16V Block 70/72s (12 single-seaters and two twin-sticks) on July 11, 2018. Lockheed described the aircraft as Block 70s, but the DSCA notification did not indicate whether they would have GE Aviation F110 or Pratt & Whitney F100 engines.
In March 2019, the US State Department approved the sale of 25 F-16C/D Block 72 jets to Morocco, with 29 Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines in a deal worth an estimated $3.9bn. The 23 surviving Royal Moroccan Air Force-operated F-16C/D Block 52s are to be upgraded to same standard.
A deal for eight F-16C Block 70s for Bulgaria was approved in July 2019. Bulgaria will also be gifted two surplus Lockheed Martin F-16D Fighting Falcons to help prepare the country for the arrival of its first Block 70s. These will be used to train pilots and maintainers on the type ahead of the Bulgarian Air Force receiving the first of its eight Block 70 aircraft. A deal for a further eight aircraft – including four two-seat F-16Ds – for Bulgaria was signed in late 2022.
On March 19, 2019, Taiwan's ROCAF announced it had formally requested the purchase of an additional 66 new-build F-16C/D Block 70s, and the sale was approved on August 20, 2019. The new aircraft will reportedly be delivered by 2026 and will be assigned to the 7th TFW at Taitung AB.
The Greenville production line is set to run to 2026, with orders for 136 Block 70/72 aircraft for Bahrain (16), Slovakia (14), Morocco (24), Taiwan (66), and Bulgaria (16). The firm sees a market for up to 300 more sales and has identified prospects that include Jordan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Jordan has signed a letter of offer and acceptance for eight new aircraft, following Congressional approval for up to 12 F-16C Block 70s and four F-16Ds, plus 21 F100-GE-129D or F100-PW229EEP engines.
On June 24, 2021, the US State Department approved a possible FMS to the Philippines of 12 F-16 Block 70/72s and related equipment for an estimated $2.43bn, including ten F-16Cs, two F-16Ds and 15 F100-PW-229EEP or F110-GE-129D engines.
The prospects of a sale in India are rapidly receding, though Lockheed Martin's F-16IN Block 70/72 (later F-21) Super Viper was offered to meet its Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft requirement. The F-21 proposal was for “an indigenously-produced, Indian aircraft for India… which addresses the goals of self-reliance while providing India with an improved security co-operation relationship with the US”.
Uncle Sam’s AESA upgrade
That might have been the end of the story, but for the USAF’s ongoing effort to upgrade hundreds of F-16s to virtually the same standard – a long and complicated effort. The final element in the F-16 AESA story consists of the aircraft being upgraded to virtually the same standard as the F-16V or Block 70/72 for the USAF. Despite the retirement of many older examples, the F-16 still makes up roughly half of the USAF’s fighter inventory, with about 1,000 in service, 780 of which are single-seat F-16Cs, 155 are two-seat F-16Ds, and 66 are QF-16A ‘Zombie Viper’ target drones.
The USAF F-16C/D fleet can be further divided into two – the so-called ‘Pre-Block’ aircraft (230 Blocks 25, 30 and 32 examples) and the ‘Post Block’ F-16s (Blocks 40, 42, 50 and 52). The USAF is currently retiring some of its ‘Pre-Block’ aircraft (including 47 airframes in FY22), but is upgrading and modernizing the ‘Post-Block’ fleet for service into the late 2040s. Some 651 ‘Post-Block’ F-16s have already been brought to a common standard under the $1bn Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP), which ran from 2000 until 2010 and brought with it updated cockpit displays, new mission computers and data links.
An initial effort to add an AESA radar to the USAF’s F-16s came with the F-16 CAPES program, under which Lockheed Martin was to have upgraded at least 300 F-16s with a new AESA radar, cockpit displays, data link enhancements and an improved defensive suite. However, the program was cancelled in 2014 for budgetary reasons. The USAF launched a remarkably similar upgrade effort in 2015 as the Radar Modernization Program (RMP), aiming to develop a full APG-83 capability for up to 450 active component F-16s.
Following lengthy evaluations, the USAF selected the AN/APG-83 SABR over the competing AN/APG-84 RACR on June 17, 2017, as part of an urgent upgrade to 72 F-16s stationed at nine US Air National Guard (ANG) bases in the US. This was the result of a US Northern Command Joint Emergent Operational Need (JEON) for a radar upgrade for the ANG’s ‘Pre-Block’ F-16 Block 30/32s employed in the Homeland Defense mission. The ability to counter cruise missile threats against the continental US was the primary justification.
The first SABR installation for a frontline USAF F-16 unit was completed in January 2020, on an F-16C Block 30 of the District of Columbia ANG’s 113th Wing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Other units equipped included the Oklahoma ANG at Tulsa, and the South Dakota ANG at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls. It was found that it took only a day and a half to swap in a new AN/APG-83 on an F-16.
Some 608 of the USAF’s youngest F-16s are now expected to be upgraded to virtual Block 70 standards as part of a massive $6.3bn ‘Post Block’ Integration Team (or PoBIT) program, which also includes “up to 22 modifications designed to improve lethality and ensure the fourth-generation fighter remains effective in meeting current and future threats”. This has increased from 330 to 450 to 512 and now 608 ‘Post-Block’ aircraft. The 480th FS ‘Warhawks’ at Spangdahlem AB became the first active-duty USAF F-16 fighter squadron to receive the AN/APG-83 SABR AESA radar upgrade, from early 2022. It will not be the last.
