The US Department of State has approved the upgrade of Greece’s F-16 fleet to a common F-16V configuration, it announced on October 19. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President Donald Trump released news of the deal at the White House on October 17. Under a $1.1–1.3 billion programme, some 55 F-16s from the current Hellenic Air Force fleet of Block 30, Block 50 and Block 52 F-16C and F-16D aircraft will be upgraded to F-16V configuration over a ten-year period. US sources identified the procurement as worth some $2.4 billion.
The upgrade to F-16V will add Northrop Grumman’s active electronically scanned array APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar and the Link 16 Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio Systems among other systems improvements. David C Isby
