Officials said the Bush administration has approved plans for a second order of the advanced anti-ship missiles to Oman. They said the order is valued at nearly $22 million and is meant to provide the sultanates F-16 fleet with anti-ship capability....

An American F-16 crashed last night during takeoff from the Osan Air Base, Kyonggi Province, the Ministry of National Defense said. The pilot managed to eject from the plane just before the crash and was sent to nearby hospital. ...

The United States Air Force paid $80 million to Raytheon for the development of a Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD) demonstrator. Initially, the decoy will be carried on F-16 and B-52 aircraft....

Lt. Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, Chief of Staff of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, and his delegation visited Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant on May 23 to review the status of the UAE F-16 program .
...

A former Turkish naval commander confirmed on Monday that a Greek warplane had shot down a Turkish F-16 fighter in the Aegean in 1996. The incident, which cost the life of one of the two Turkish pilots, Captain Nail Erdogan, was attributed to an accident at a time of heightened tension. ...

US Embassy officials in Australia denied sounding out the government or defence officials on plans to base US military forces in Australia. Australia has reportedly been informally asked to provide bases for US forces as part of a plan to combat terrorism in South-East Asia, especially Islamist extremists based in Indonesia.

Among ideas being canvassed were the deployment of US F-16 fighters to the Tindal RAAF base in the Northern Territory and a brigade of up to 5,000 US Marines at an Australian army base, The Australian newspaper said....

The U.S. military deployed air-defense missiles and F-16s in Washington for an exercise amid heightened threats of terrorism, as al Qaeda's No. 2 official purportedly issued a message yesterday urging Muslims to kill Americans and Israelis and warning of attacks. ...

The U.S. Air Force on Tuesday said it awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $279.9 million contract to pay for 10 F-16 fighter jets ordered by Chile under a deal first signed in March 2002. The money covers the first 14 months of work on the warplanes at Lockheed's plant in Fort Worth. It is the first sale of advanced U.S. warplanes to South America since the 1970s....

BVR Systems of Rosh Ha'ayin today announced that it won a contract worth $5 million to supply an F-16 training center to an unnamed foreign air force. BVR, which makes defense training and simulation systems, said the training center would comprise two F-16 training devices, a mission simulator and a tactical systems trainer. ...

A North Dakota Air National Guard unit that was called to patrol the skies over Washington after the September 2001 terrorist attacks has set a record for safety. The 119th Fighter Wing, nicknamed the "Happy Hooligans," has flown more than 60,000 hours without an accident, which guard officials say is a milestone for the country's F-16 units....

An F-16 fighter jet was sent to investigate a plane carrying Gov. Jeb Bush after it lost radio contact Wednesday on approach to Reagan National Airport in Washington. It was unclear why the plane lost radio contact at 7:30 a.m. Once contact was re-established, controllers were able to authenticate that they were who they said they were....

A new Turkish provocation was recorded yesterday at 11 AM over the Aegean Sea during a small scale aeronautic military exercise, code-named 'Triena' (Trident). This drill was taking place in the sea region between the islands of Limnos and Lesvos....

Turkish procurement officials proclaimed that Turkey may cancel a $35 million contract with Elbit Systems to supply photoreconnaissance systems to the Turkish Air Force, due to delivery delays. ...

The northern Honshu base's 10,000-foot runway will be closed for $1.3 million in repairs, reopening to air traffic June 23. It will be the runway's third consecutive summertime closure. ...

TAT Technologies limited, which is engaged in the manufacturing, repairs and overhauls of heat transfer equipment and other various accessories, mainly used in aircraft, reported today that its wholly owned subsidiary Limco-Airepair Inc. of Tulsa Oklahoma has obtained a U.S. Air Force 5-year contract for the repair and overhaul of F16 Heat Exchangers. Total Revenues to be generated by this contract are evaluated at $5,000,000....

A new "passive" weapon without explosives was developed in only 98 days and used in Iraq to destroy some targets while limiting unintended collateral damage to people and structures in populated areas, an Air Force official said Thursday....

Lockheed Martin officials, along with officers from the United States and Italian Air Forces, participated in a rollout ceremony today at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, for the first of 34 F-16 fighter aircraft to be provided to Italy under a program known as "Peace Caesar."...

Two Turkish F-16 jets yesterday violated the Athens Flight Information Region to harass a Greek P3-Orion naval aircraft on a training flight about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Rhodes. ...

Lockheed Martin plans to add precision guidance to its Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) bomb tail kit, following lessons learned from its use in Afghanistan in 2001. This will give it improved performance, especially in mountainous terrain, according to company officials....

The effectiveness of the F-16 and other aging combat planes during the Iraq war is fanning a debate over the need for new fighter programs that are expected to cost taxpayers more than $300 billion....

Raytheon won a $242 million contract from Greece's air force to provide jamming equipment for F-16 fighter jets. Under the contract, Raytheon will supply the Hellenic Air Force with a new, enhanced version of the "Advanced Self- Protection Integrated Suite," or ASPIS II. ...

The Turkish Defense Ministry has filed a complaint with its Israeli counterpart regarding a delay in the supply of aerial photography systems that the former ordered from an Israeli contractor, Elbit Systems Ltd. ...

The latest installment payment to the United States for Harpoon missiles already in the Taiwan arsenal will be made following political wrangling over the use of domestic missiles versus U.S.-made ones. ...

Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Co. has won a $1.97 billion contract to supply a 36 F-16C Block 52 and 12 F-16D Block 52 aircraft for the Poland F-16 Program (Peace Sky)....

America's premier multi-role fighter is slipping into some tougher armor at the Ogden ALC. When the Service Life Improvement Program modification is complete, it will extend the life of the F-16 by about eight years. ...

The Greek air force's 115th Fighter Wing at the Cretan port of Hania yesterday took delivery of six out of a total of 60 F-16 Block 52+ jets. The F-16s replace A7 bombers which have already been transferred to other air force units. Another 30 F-16s are due to be delivered by Christmas, and the remaining 24 will arrive by the end of April 2004....

Crediting reduced costs from suppliers as a catalyst, the U.S. Air Force has exercised a contract option by awarding Lockheed Martin $117.6 million to add one F/A-22 aircraft and associated equipment to the Lot 3 Low Rate Initial Production contract awarded earlier last month. ...