F-16 news

Italy to acquire USAF F-16s

16 March 2001

Italy has signed an agreement with the United States Government for the lease of 34 F-16s from the US Air Force inventory and a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for aircraft support and services.

The F-16s will replace the Tornado Air Defense Version aircraft currently leased from the United Kingdom and the F-104s, both operated in the air defense role. The first F-16s will be delivered in mid-2003.

The five-year lease is renewable for a second five-year period. The LOA and lease value is approximately $777 million over 10 years.

The Italian Air Force will receive 30 single-seat F-16A aircraft in the Block 15 Air Defense Fighter (ADF) configuration and four two-seat F-16B aircraft in the Block 10 Operational Capabilities Upgrade configuration. These aircraft have common software and cockpits, and the F-16Bs will be used as training aircraft.

The ADF configuration has AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) radar missile capability, a night identification light, a long-range high-frequency radio, an electronic interrogator/transponder and other features tailored to the air defense role.

"This lease is a very cost-effective approach to satisfying our near-term air defense needs on an interim basis,'' said Brigadier General Tommaso Ferro, the Italian Defense and Air Attache to the United States, in Washington, D.C. "We are looking forward to joining our eight NATO partners who are already flying the F-16 and expect to enjoy the interoperability advantages of operating the same type aircraft. We are confident that the F-16 capability will superbly allow us to cover the gap while waiting for the Eurofighter generation.''

The F-16 aircraft are currently in storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Centre in Tucson, Ariz. Before delivery to the Italian Air Force, all of the flying aircraft will be refurbished and brought up to date with all required inspections and changes. At the same time, the aircraft will receive the Falcon UP structural upgrade. The F100-PW-200 engines will be upgraded to the F-100-PW-220E configuration to improve operability, reliability, maintainability, durability, safety, and operation and support costs.

Lockheed Martin is expected to receive a contract through the US government for spares, technical support and training. Lockheed Martin will manage the spares requisitioning and distribution at the Italian bases. The support contract, worth about $313 million over 10 years, is expected to be issued by the end of this year.


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Innovative fuel tanks add range to F-16s

12 June 2001

The US Air Force and Lockheed-Martin are working together to develop a new fuel tank that increases F-16 fighter aircraft fuel capacity without reducing armament space.

The fuel tanks, called 'conformal' because they form fit to the top of the F-16 fuselage, can carry an additional 3,000 pounds of fuel, said Steve Barter, Lockheed-Martin conformal fuel tank project pilot.


"The tanks add additional range to the F-16, without taking out an underwing station where the external fuel tanks that are carried on the F-16 now reside," Barter said. "Alternately, it allows us to add even more fuel by carrying fuel under the wings."

The tanks will be installed on new Block 50 F-16s bound for Greece and later on new Block 60 F-16s headed for the United Arab Emirates.

The F-16 conformal fuel tank project started more than five years ago. The tanks went through many tests following a redesign to make them more aerodynamic.

The tanks were at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for low-speed and lightweight testing before being sent to Eglin AFB for high-speed and heavy-load testing in March. Testing should be completed by late June or mid-July.

After the testing, officials said the conformal fuel tank F-16, which is the only one like it in the world, will return to Fort Worth to be fitted with fully functional fuel tanks. The plane should return to Eglin in October for further testing.

by Greg Davenport Air Armament Centre Public Affairs


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IAI's upgraded F-16 on display in Paris

21 June 2001

The first flight of an F-16 aircraft upgraded by a consortium led Israeli Defense Industries was successfully completed last month in Israel and was so successful that, after additional test flights the aircraft was flown to France to be displayed at the Paris Air Show.

The programme has been named ACE, which stands for Avionics Capabilities Enhancement.

The first flight took place after the completion of the final development stages, which involved avionics system integration at IAI's subsidiary LAHAV's System Integration Laboratory and installation of the new systems on the prototype F-16 ACE aircraft. The test pilots were impressed by the considerable improvement in performance that the newly installed display and avionics systems provide. The F-16's original avionics design dates back to the 1970s.

The completed F-16 ACE prototype aircraft reflects the tremendous progress in avionics technology made in recent years. The new avionics suite is on par with those of the most advanced fighters in current production. F-16 ACE pilots will detect and identify their targets with the assistance of the IAI/Elta EL/M-2032 Fire Control Radar. This advanced radar with SAR modes offers outstanding air-to-air and air-to-ground performance.

Targets and relevant data are displayed on the F-16 ACE's three 5"x7" colour displays, creating a "Full Glass Cockpit" layout that has yet to be introduced on any operational F-16 aircraft. A wide angle HUD manufactured by El-Op project data into the pilot's outer view of the world. Elbit's Helmet Mounted Display provides F-16 ACE pilots with an alternative to the HUD, enabling them to choose of the systems as the main head up display.

In order to reduce pilot workload a new Up Front Control Panel (UFCP) with integral data display is located directly in front of the pilot. The UFCP reduces to a minimum the number of entries required by the pilot to insert data, read messages or give commands to the aircraft's systems. This user friendly panel provides just one example of the F-16 ACE's optimised man-machine interface, which is based on the extensive experience gained by Israel Air Force pilots on a variety of advanced combat aircraft.

Information detected by the F-16 ACE's sensors as well as data from external sensors is processed by the aircraft's powerful Mission Computer and then routed to the new displays. The Mission Computer and the displays are both Israeli developed systems.

The F-16 ACE's avionics suite has an open architecture design, meaning that new sensors (internal and external), Data Link, and existing and new weapons systems can be accommodated without requiring hardware changes.


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Lockheed Martin delivers F-16 CCIP mod kits

25 July 2001

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics has shipped the first eight modification kits for the US Air Force's Common Configuration Implementation Programme (CCIP). CCIP is the most extensive retrofit of the F-16 and involves major changes to the aircraft avionics and cockpit with approximately 650 USAF Block 40/50 F-16C/Ds scheduled to be upgraded. Development began in June 1998, and flight-testing is currently under way at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

CCIP is being implemented in phases, based on subsystem availability. The first kits include the Modular Mission Computer and colour cockpit features to only the Block 50/52 version. The first aircraft is scheduled for completion in January 2002.

''The CCIP upgrade will provide the Air Force major benefits in capability and supportability for its Block 40/50 fleet,'' said Donald W. Jones, vice president of F-16 Programmes at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Starting in March 2002, the Block 50/52 kits will include the combined electronic interrogator/transponder, which gives the F-16 an autonomous beyond-visual-range air-intercept capability. These aircraft also will be capable of alternate carriage of the advanced FLIR targeting pod (currently in source selection), in addition to the High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile Targeting System pod. This will give these aircraft a capability to fully employ Maverick missiles and laser-guided bombs, not only in suppressing enemy air defences, but also in destroying them. The first aircraft with this capability will deliver in September 2002.

The next phase in 2003 will add Link 16 Multifunctional Information Distribution System, the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), and an electronic horizontal situation indicator. Link 16 is the new NATO-standard data link network that enhances information exchange among all users. JHMCS provides a quick ''look-shoot'' capability for off-boresight target acquisition and launch of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons. Block 40/42 aircraft will receive the modification all at one time, starting in 2005.

CCIP will bring commonality to the USAF Block 40/50 fleet. There is also a large degree of hardware and software commonality with other F-16 upgrades. These include the F-16A/B Mid-Life Update retrofit, new production USAF F-16s (starting in spring 2003), international production F-16s (such as the Block 52+ for Greece starting in late 2002), and potentially others.

''Even though F-16s are tailored to suit the unique requirements of many customers, we have been able to achieve a high degree of commonality among these different configurations,'' Jones said. ''This is providing significant cost benefits. Non-recurring costs are shared by customers, and there are economies of scale in the recurring costs.''

CCIP is employing many Department of Defence acquisition reform initiatives — the most significant being extensive use of commercial components in avionics subsystems. This helps to avoid parts obsolescence and availability problems in the future. Total contract value of USAF CCIP development and kit production to Lockheed Martin is approximately $1 billion. Some international F-16 users have expressed interest in a similar upgrade to their F-16C/D aircraft.


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