ISLAMABAD – The F-16 serves as the workhorse fighter jet of the UnitedStates and its NATO, Israeli, and Pakistani allies; it has been around forover four decades and has received multiple upgrades since the early 90s.The US Air Force has used the plane in its military operations in Iraq, theformer Yugoslavia and Libya.
The US Department of Defense has granted defence giant Northrop GrummanSystems a $1 billion “definitised modification” to a previously-awardedcontract to install new active electronically scanned array (AESA) firecontrol radars on up to 372 of the Air Force’s F-16 Fighting Falcon fighterjets, the Pentagon’s press service has reportedlink.
The defence giant was originally selected by the Air Force for an F-16radar upgrade in 2017link,with the Pentagon dolling out $243.8 million for 72 radars, spare parts andsupport services.
Northrop Grumman’s AESA radar, known as the ‘AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile BeamRadar (SABR)’, can be mounted aboard various fighter aircraft, and itscapabilities are said to be derived from the defence giant’s series of 5thgen AESA radars for the F-22 and the F-35.
Under the new billion dollar contract, the 372 radars are expected to befitted by May 2027.
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First introduced in 1978, and serving in nearly all of the US’s foreignwars since then, the F-16 was slated to be replaced by the Lockheed MartinF-35 fighter beginning in the early 2010s.
However, a slew of problems with that advanced but pricey aircraft’sintroduction have kept the F-16 operational longer than planned – firstuntil 2025, and to as late as 2048linksincethen. The US has about 790 F-16s in its inventory.
In addition to the US, the aircraft serves in the air forces of over twodozen countries, with a total of over 4,600 F-16s built in the past fourdecades. About half of them remain operational today.
