Lockheed Martin has won a contract with the US government worth around $1.2 billion to produce 16 new F-16 Block 70 aircraft for the Royal Bahraini Air Force.
The award represents the first F-16 Block 70 sale and the first F-16 production program to be performed in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is the first customer to procure the F-16 Block 70, the newest and most advanced F-16 production configuration.
The aircraft features advanced avionics, a proven Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, a modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, conformal fuel tanks, an automatic ground collision avoidance system, an advanced engine and an industry-leading extended structural service life of 12,000 hours.
Lockheed Martin expects F-16 production to create between 150 and 200 new jobs in Greenville, with production also supporting hundreds of US-based Lockheed Martin engineering, procurement, sustainment and customer support jobs and thousands of US supplier jobs. The F-16 supply chain is currently supported by 450 US suppliers in 42 states.
Susan Ouzts, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Program, said: “We value our long-standing relationship with the Kingdom of Bahrain and look forward to beginning production activities on their first Block 70 aircraft at our facility in Greenville.
“This sale highlights the significant, growing demand we see for new production F-16s around the globe.”
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