Two Turkish F-16s harassed a commercial plane of the Greek express courier company "Veravia". The propeller cargo plane had taken off from Athens' "Eleftherios Venizelos" International Airport and was en route to Larnaca Airport in Cyprus....

In an exercise to see how fast the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) can recall its overseas-based assets, last Saturday four of its F-16 Fighting Falcons flew 17,000km from Arizona in the United States to Singapore in six days....

Lockheed-Martin will be late in delivering the new F-16I's to the Israel Air Force, as a result of a strike at its Fort Worth, Texas plant. The first plane was due to be delivered in Israel in October 2003. Delivery will now be delayed till next year. ...

The Dutch minister of defense H.G.J. Kamp announced that, because of financial constraints, the participation in operation Enduring Freedom will not be prolonged after October 1st. From July 1st onwards, the Netherlands will also reduce the number of F-16's it is contributing to the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF) from six to four....

The first Portuguese Air Force F-16 MLU took off from OGMA facilities, in Alverca, on June 26th in a ceremony attended by the Portuguese prime minister, José M. Durão Barroso....

Lockheed Martin has successfully completed the initial phase of flight testing of a more powerful engine for the latest version of the F-16, the Block 60. The engine is a General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan engine which is derived form the current F110-GE-100 and F110-GE-129 engines powering the majority of F-16C/Ds world-wide. ...

The Melbourne Airport Authority wants F-16 fighter jets out of Melbourne International Airport (Florida - USA) because of the noise and safety issues they have created. ...

Yesterday, engine trouble forced a US pilot to land his F-16 Fighting Falcon in North Bay - Canada. Lt.-Col. Kurt Tek circled above the city for about 20 minutes before landing the jet at North Bay's airport....

The U.S. Air Force recently exercised a contract option associated with Phase III of the F-16 Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP) by awarding Lockheed Martin $26.6 million for retrofit kits to modify 22 Block 40/42 aircraft. ...

"Star Wars" laser battles may have happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but for the U.S. Air Force they're just now starting to become a reality. A new high energy laser weapon and F-16 flight simulator is being designed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Theater Aerospace Command Control Simulation Facility at Kirtland Air Force Base....

On June 24th, President George W. Bush declared the US would not hand over the embargoed F-16 Fighting Falcons to Pakistan after all. The past week, rumours had circulated that the 28 F-16A/B Block 15OCU aircraft -which Pakistan has paid for but which were embargoed due to 1990s anti-nuclear sanctions- might be delivered after all.
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Singapore will soon short-list three candidates in the race for a contract to supply the city-state with a new squadron of fighter jets, Singapore's defence ministry said today....

Belgian F-16s from the Quick Reaction Alert in Klein Brogel scrambled two times in two days time to intercept a civilian aircraft. The first interception was on Friday June 20th when a Lebanese DC-8 on route to Ostend (Belgium) had not communicated with air traffic control (ATC) for a while. The F-16s which were already in the air for a training when the NATO command centre in Kalkar (Germany) asked the F-16s to get a visual check. ...

According to Indian newssources, the Pentagon has denied reports that the US plans to release advanced versions of F-16s to Pakistan. "It is a completely false story," Commander Randy Sandoz, a Pentagon spokesman, said yesterday referring to media reports about the deal....

The U.S. military won't pursue charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault or dereliction of duty against two F-16 pilots who mistakenly bombed Canadian soldiers last year in Afghanistan, killing four. ...

Last Wednesday afternoon a Volkel based F-16 of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (KLu) mistakenly dropped a 250lbs dummy practice bomb outside the bombrange at Vliehors Island in the Waddensea (in the Northern part of the Netherlands). ...

Rumor goes that the US has informed Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani during his recent visit to the country that it is readying an F-16 fighter deal with Pakistan. This is to consolidate alliances in preparation for strategic moves on Iran and North Korea....

On June 8th, the last day of the 39th Tiger Meet, the Belgian 31st "Tiger" squadron received the Silver Tiger award. The best flying Trophy went to 230 squadron, while the Tiger Games were won by AG-51....

The Indonesian Air Force deployed F-16s to deliver "shock therapy" to separatist rebels in the province of Aceh, sending sonic booms across the province....

Lockheed Martin Corp is being awarded a $224 million contract to provide for the common recurring effort for 12 F-16/CD aircraft, alternate mission equipment and ferry preparation....

This year the 322nd Sqn of the Royal Netherlands Air Force celebrates its 60th anniversary. The occasion was marked by a reunion on Friday June 13th, 2003 at Leeuwarden Air Base....

The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $40 million contract for development and test of an extended range (ER) version of its Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD). ...

The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team is undergoing a series of design, test and manufacturing milestones this year in preparation for initial full-engine tests for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program in 2004. ...

Curtiss-Wright Corp. announced today that the US Departement of Defense has awarded its subsidiary Curtiss-Wright Controls a contract to supply leading edge flap actuators for the F-16....

An F-16 (#85-1445) crashed at 09.30h at the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field, about five miles south of Gila Bend. This is the second such crash in three days involving an F-16 from Luke Air Force Base. ...

A U.S. Air Force F-16CG from Hill AFB crashed today at approximately 6:30 am local time today southwest of Baghdad. The pilot, a captain with Hill Air Force Base's 388th Fighter Wing in Utah, ejected safely and was rescued within an hour by a combat search and rescue team....

Yesterday in the late afternoon, an F-16 (#88-0451) based at Luke Air Force Base crashed during a training at the Barry M. Goldwater Range about 15 miles south of Gila Bend (Southern Arizona). The pilot, Captain David O'Malley, safely ejected prior to the crash....

For the next three months, F-16s normally based at Buckley Air Force Base, will be operating from Denver International Airport.

The temporary setup is needed while repairs are made to the runways at Buckley....

The United Arab Emirates has accelerated construction of an air base to house its new fleet of F-16s.

Gulf defense sources said the base is expected to cost more than $1 billion. The facility is meant to house about half of the 80 F-16 Block 60 aircraft the UAE will receive over the next four years....

Today, two Turkish F-16s flew close to an Olympic Airways Boeing 717 in Greek airspace, triggering the crash avoidance alarm and prompting a protest by the Greek Foreign Ministry. The passenger plane (flight 321) was en route from Athens to Istanbul. ...

The Portuguese MLU program now seems to be on the right track. After some delays caused by some divergences between OGMA and the Portuguese Air Force it seems that the program is now rolling at full speed. ...

Both Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense and China's foreign ministry denied that four Taiwanese Air Force F-16s have defected to China.

A mainland Chinese military publication, the Extensive Military Report, reports on the second page of its latest edition (to be published today) that four Taiwanese F-16 Block 20 aircraft from the 401st Wing (based at Taoyuan air base) defected to China. The F-16s supposedly landed at an air base in Fujian Province under the escort of eight Chinese Su-27s....

Yesterday, a Greek air force F-16 block 30 crashed into a field near Volos soon after takeoff on a training flight from the military base of Nea Anchialos. The pilot ejected safely....

The F-22 industry team has delivered Raptor 4008 - the program's dedicated low-observable, or stealth, reliability and maintainability flight-test and evaluation aircraft - to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Raptor 08 arrived at Edwards late Friday, May 31. It is the last Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD), or developmental flight- test, aircraft to be delivered to the U.S. Air Force....

The US Air Force ordered 3,854 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) tail kits from Lockheed Martin, in a deal worth $63.79 million.

Of these kits, 304 are to be delivered to the the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the first foreign customer for the system. The WCMD kits will be used on the United Arab Emirates' 80 F-16 Block 60 aircraft....