Politics aside, the United States has decided to move ahead with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, heeding to Ankara’s request in October 2021 to buy 40 of the Lockheed Martin fighters, and nearly 80 modernisation kits for its existing warplanes at an estimated total value of US$20 billion.
In February this year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly confirmed that the Biden administration supports a possible sale of F-16 fighter aircraft to Turkey and has
engaged Congress on the issue.
According to reports reports, citing unnamed U.S. officials, the administration informally notified Congress of its intent to sell 40 new F-16s in the Block 70/72 Viper configuration (F-16Vs) and Viper upgrade packages for 79 existing fighters, along with 900 air-to-air missiles and 800 bombs.
The U.S. had also agreed in April this year to sell Turkey US$259 million in software it has long sought to upgrade its existing fleet of F-16 fighter jets. State Department approval of the two sales come about after Turkey dropped its objections to Finland and Sweden joining the NATO.
According to former Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) head Ismail Demir, “through the Turkish defence industry’s F-16 modernisation project “Özgür,” the F-16 aircraft, a purchased system in the Turkish army’s inventory, will be transformed into genuinely Turkish airplanes.”
The F-16 Özgür modernisation programme, undertaken by Turkish Aerospace (TA), focuses on upgrading about 35 of the existing F-16 Block 30 fighter jets in the Turkish Air Force arsenal with national mission computers and software.
“Structural upgrades of F-16 Block-30 Aircraft are continuing at full speed,” said Demir. “Within the scope of the project, engineering studies are carried out for the renovation and revision of 1200-1500 structural parts per aircraft, and necessary repair, replacement, and fuselage improvement activities are carried out. With the project carried out by Turkish Aerospace Industries, we aim to increase the structural life of our F-16 aircraft, the main striking element of our air force, from 8000 hours to 12000 hours.”
More than 9,000 hours of flight were conducted with the F-16 Block 30 fleet in service.
As part of the modernisation process, the F-16 Block 30 warplanes will receive several upgrades, including the the Murad AESA radar, developed by leading Turkish defence company Aselsan.
Major Deals: Aselsan recently signed two contracts with TA, or Tusas, for aircraft modernisation, worth US$1.99 billion in total. Deliveries will be made between 2023-2033, a company statement said. Although there has been no information on the contract, analysts expect it to be related to the F16 Özgür/Freedom modernisation program.
The upgrade process on the first aircraft has been completed. Serial modernisation on other aircraft has begun.
In the Özgur project, which includes the large scale of avionic modernisation of the F-16 Block 30 jets in the Turkish Air Force inventory, and also aimed cover Murad AESA radar integration. (National Mission Computer, System Interface Unit, Cockpit Front Control Panel, Fuel Hydraulic Gauge, Engine Indicator Screen, Emergency System, National Sound Safety Device, National Friend – Foe Identification (IFF) System, Multimode Receiver, Inertial Navigation System, Interface Blanking Unit, Center Cockpit Indicator, Color Multi-Function Display)
During the last 20 years, Turkey has undertaken various upgrade and modification projects for the F-16 fleet. The most important of these are the Özgur Program and the F-16 Block 30 Structural Upgrade Project that started in 2010 and 2015, respectively, and are still ongoing.
Lockheed Martin also took part as a subcontractor in the project, and the 1st Air Maintenance Factory Directorate (1st AMFD) was assigned for the modernisation of 10 out of 35 aircraft. Initially, the structural improvement activities on the prototype aircraft were planned to be completed in 2017, using the structural reinforcement kits developed by Lockheed Martin.
A New Lease of Life
The U.S. F-16 sale to Turkey would likely extend the service life of much of Turkey’s fleet—and ensure its continued interoperability within NATO—while Turkey tries to acquire or design a stealth fighter.
The United States was planning to sell up to 100 F-35s to Turkey until its 2019 acquisition of a Russian S-400 surface-to-air defence system led to a U.S. cancellation of the F-35 transfers. The F-16V could be an interim solution for Turkey, though it lacks the stealth features of the F-35 and may be subject to production backlogs of three years or more.
The F-16V is marketed as an advanced fourth-generation fighter, and thus could present an interim solution for Turkey, though the aircraft lacks the stealth characteristics of the F-35.
According to Lockheed Martin, the F-16V also includes modern systems like the APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, an improved electronic warfare suite, and new cockpit software and hardware to provide enhanced battlespace awareness to the pilot. These systems allow a pilot to identify and engage more targets, an increase in lethality relative to previous F-16 variants.
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