Lockheed Martin has printed a photograph of the primary F-16D Block 70 Fighter for the Royal Bahraini Air Pressure (RBAF) on 21 November 2022. The primary roll out of the Bahraini F-16s is a D-model with serial #1611. It’s the first of a brand new batch for the Royal Bahraini Air Pressure and it’s the primary F-16 to be constructed on the newly constructed Lockheed Martin manufacturing facility at Greenville, South-Carolina. The final Iraqi block 52 airframes left the Fort Price manufacturing facility again in 2017, closing down the manufacturing run of the exceptional F-16 after almost 40 years of steady manufacturing. It is going to make its inaugural flight within the first months of 2023 with supply scheduled within the first half of 2024. This later than anticipated supply schedule is astray because of the COVID-19 disaster and the availability change difficulties accompanying it. With these increasingly more being resolved the manufacturing of extra F-16s can be forthcoming in Greenville, South-Carolina.
In, 2017, the US State Division has authorized a Overseas Navy Sale to Bahrain for 19 F-16V fighter plane estimated to value US$2.785 billion in addition to upgrading its 20 present F-16 block 40 plane to F-16V configuration for US$1.082 billion. In 2018, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.1 billion contract by the US authorities to provide 16 Block-70 fighters for Bahrain, the primary buyer to amass what Lockheed known as the “latest and most superior F-16 manufacturing configuration.” The Royal Bahraini Air Pressure has ordered sixteen Block 70 F-16s, divided over ten F-16C and 6 F-16D fashions. The aircrafts will stay on the Lockheed facility below the direct supervision of Lockheed employees, with restricted non-flying coaching actions with Bahrain approved by means of a contract between the U.S. Air Pressure and Lockheed. When a grouping of plane is prepared (usually 4 plane), U.S. Air Pressure pilots will ferry them abroad to the Bahraini operational location.
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The Kingdom of Bahrain was the primary buyer to acquire the F-16 Block 70, the latest and most superior F-16 manufacturing configuration. The contract consists of 32 AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM missiles; 1 AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM steering part; 32 AIM-9X missiles; 20 AGM-84 Block II Harpoon missiles; 2 ATM-84L-1 Block II Harpoon missiles; 40 AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) All-Up-Rounds; 50 AGM-88B Excessive-Pace Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM); 4 AGM-88 HARM coaching missiles; 100 GBU-39 250 lb Small Diameter Bomb (SDB-1) All-Up-Rounds; 400 MAU-209 C/B Laptop Management Teams; 80 MAU-210 Enhanced Laptop Management Teams; 340 MXU-650 Air Foil Group : 140 MXU-651 Air Foil Teams (GBU-10, -50); 70 KMU-557 GBU-31 tail kits; 120 KMU-572 tail kits; 100 DSU-38 proximity sensors; 462 MK-82 or BLU-111 500 lb Bomb Our bodies; 210 BLU-109/BLU-117 or MK-84 2000 lb Bomb Our bodies; 10 follow BLU-109/BLU-117 and 670 FMU-152 fuses. These weapons assist the brand new procurement of F-16 Block 70 and upgrades of their present block-40s.
On 15 February 2012, Lockheed Martin unveiled a brand new model of their F-16 on the 2012 Singapore Airshow.[16] The F-16V will characteristic enhancements together with an AN/APG-83 lively electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, an upgraded mission pc and structure, and enhancements to the cockpit – all capabilities recognized by the U.S. Air Pressure and several other worldwide clients for future enhancements. The brand new variant is dubbed the “Viper”, which is meant to raised function with fifth-generation fighters, and shouldn’t be confused with Lockheed’s F-16IN Block 70/72 “Tremendous Viper”, which was provided to India for the Medium Multi-Function Fight Plane competitors and showcased on the 2009 Aero India Air Present. On 16 October 2015, the F-16V flew for the primary time with an APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar AESA, a brand new Middle Pedestal Show, a modernized mission pc, Computerized Floor Collision Avoidance System, and lots of different upgrades. This may be fitted on new manufacturing F-16s or retrofitted on present ones.
