Lockheed Martin’s New Aircraft That Emerged After 4 Years
The F-16, a new generation fighter jet, has been unveiled by the Lockheed Martin company in Greenville. The aircraft will be delivered to the Bahrain Air Force. After a four-year hiatus, Lockheed Martin was able to assemble and manufacture the F-16 fighter jet with a new design.
The 70 to 72 aircraft will be manufactured for the Bahrain Air Force and are being assembled at a factory in Greenville. Greenville is in the state of South Carolina. The first test flight of the F-16 New Generation aircraft will be made in early 2023.
The F-16 was previously manufactured in Fort Worth, which was discontinued in 2018. F-16s were grounded to make F-35s at Fort Worth.
According to Lockheed Martin, up to 128 units are to be produced and will be shipped to five customer countries within the decade.
In addition to the Bahrain Air Force, Slovakia Bulgaria Taiwan and another unnamed country are involved. Another country offered is Jordan. He is there to buy about (8) cars. The F-16 that will be produced now can be said to be the last version of the original F-16. All the planes are targeted to be produced by the middle of 2030.
The US Air Force will also retire its older model F-16s at the same time. Now the new F-16 aircraft will have more reinforced body construction. The lifespan of the aircraft has also been extended to 12,000 hours.
This is a 50 percent increase over the original F-16. Therefore, the planes produced now will be able to be used until 2060.
Other upgrades include the AESA radar; electronic feedback system; Mission Computers with high processing capacity have been installed. The cockpit has also been modified and equipped with a large TV screen dial. The engine has also been modified and an extra fuel tank has been installed on the wing. Weapons systems have also been upgraded with better systems.
The F-16 was originally designed by General Dynamic and first flew in 1974. January 20th. Lockheed Martin took over in 1993. In 1995, two companies, Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin, merged to become Lockheed Martin.
Currently, F-16 aircraft are in service in 25 countries. If I have to mention some information about the F-16 aircraft;
- – A single-engine multi-purpose fighter.
- – Its full name is F-16 Fighting Falcon.
- -Can attack from a distance of more than 500 miles. Air refueling can go even further.
- -Its size is small and beautiful and the price is not too high.
- – The pilot’s seat can be tilted from 13 to 30 degrees, making the pilot more comfortable and more resistant to the world’s gravity (G-effect).
- – The aircraft is equipped with a fly-by-wire system, so the pilot can easily move the flight controls as needed with the control stick. The stick is installed in the middle between the pilot’s legs.
- -(Avionics) system is also equipped with E.G.I (Enhanced Global Positioning and Inertial Navigation System) so it looks modern. The pilot can set the flight path through the computer in advance.
- – ILS (Instrument Landing System) is included, so you can easily find and land on ILS-equipped fields.
- -Early warning system can also detect interference from enemy missiles.
There have been many wars in which the F-16 has fought. Notable examples are (1) Noble Eagle (Homeland Defense); (2) Freedom in Afghanistan, (3) Iraqi Freedom.
