News Archive

A U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon provided close air support to ground troops fighting to recover two slain helicopter crewmen in the vicinity of Baquba, Iraq, on May 26, officials said....

Today, the Belgian government decided to send 4 F-16 fighters together with a 65 men detachment of both the 2nd FW of Florennes AB and the 10th FW of Kleine Brogel AB to Kabul International Airport for an initial period of 6 months. ...

Lockheed Martin Aircrew Training System C-130E simulators at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, have received a Level C certification from the USAF Air Mobility Command....

The Base Re-alignment and Closure plans call for 178 F-16 fighting falcons to be retired, and 39 more to be used as backup aircraft. In total, fifteen F-16 bases will lose 15 aircraft or more each, while 16 bases will gain between 1 and 10 aircraft. This article provides a detailed overview per base, unit, and block....

Lockheed Martin was awarded a $52.9 million contract to produce 1,655 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) tail kits and 100 WCMD-Extended Range (ER) wing kits for the U.S. Air Force. The purchase of 100 WCMD-ER kits signals the beginning of production for this system. ...

More than 200 Air National Guardsmen of the 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa deployed Thursday morning to provide air support for ground troops in Iraq. After a near 20 hour transport flight, the F-16C fighter unit will spend the next 45 days based in southwest Asia, flying missions to support ground troops in Iraq....

Testers at the 416th Flight Test Squadron are in the midst of testing M4.1+ avionics hardware and software upgrades to Block 40 F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, verifying new capabilities provided by the software through flight and ground testing. ...

RADA announced today it has received purchase orders from Lockheed Martin to develop, test and deliver the next version of Lockheed's Structural Fatigue Tracking System (PERFORMS), and provide related services. Total orders exceed $470,000 for delivery starting March 2005 and lasting through February 2006....

Workers at Lockheed Martin joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's 35-foot-wide carbon-fiber composite skinned and metal structure wing to the aircraft's fuselage on Monday, uniting three of the F-35's four major sections - the forward fuselage, the center fuselage and the wing....

Yesterday, a young Greek Viper pilot with only 130 flying hours in the F-16 made a successful dead stick landing at the Lemnos Island International Airport at 11:00. ...

Two Israeli F-16s were scrambled today as an unidentified aircraft asked to land after it took-off from Greece. The F-16s escorted it to land in Hatzor AFB, and it ended up to be piloted by an Israeli pilot....

Today the Pentagon released the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) report which contains the plans for major cutbacks at selected bases around the USA. One of the major F-16 bases to be impacted is Cannon AFB in New Mexico, which will close....

For the first time, the IDF/AF is dispatching fighter jets to Canada to participate in the Maple Flag exercises which will take place May 15-June 24. They will have 10 F-16s and about 150 air crew in Alberta....

When Col. Michael Boera touched his F-16 to the tarmac Wednesday afternoon and shut down the engine, he couldn't help but smile. A process that began 15 months ago, when Boera led a group of four Misawa F-16s across the Pacific Ocean to Hill Air Force Base Depot, Utah, had come full circle....

Airmen from the District of Columbia Air National Guard's 121st Fighter Squadron scrambled at noon to intercept the stray Cessna aircraft after it violated airspace restrictions. The incident sparked evacuations at the White House and Capitol....

Pakistan has increased its requirement on the number of F-16s to at least 55 and plans to decide on a configuration within the next few weeks. Industry sources say government-to-government meetings held in Pakistan last month resulted in a letter of request for 55 F-16s, plus 20 options. ...

An Air Force pilot with 3,100 hours in an F-16 cockpit has taken command of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base. A change of command ceremony in which Col. Robert Beletic was installed as the wing's commander was held Wednesday morning. ...

The first of the Block 25 F-16 Fighting Falcons passed the 6,000-hour milestone earlier this year, and four more are expected to do so later this year, thanks in part to the engineering and depot-level modification efforts of the Ogden ALC....

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrated the arrival of its first F-16E/F aircraft on May 3rd. The first "Desert Falcon" F-16s to be based in the UAE were received by the crown prince, His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces....

Technicians inspect the center fuselage for the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which arrived on Tuesday afternoon, May 3, at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. ...

In a clear sign that the Bush administration's anger over Israeli-Chinese military ties is nearing a boiling point, the Pentagon is suspending information-sharing with Israel on a key fighter-jet program....

Lockheed Martin today delivered a third C-130J Super Hercules to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas at the controls was Gen. John W. Handy, commander, U.S. Transportation Command, and commander, Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Illinois....

The F/A-22 Raptor fleet at Tyndall AFB for the 43rd Fighter Squadron is now complete with the April 22 arrival of its 23rd airplane....

A two-seat IDF/AF F-16D crashed today at Ramat David AFB, Israel, around noon local time. Both crew members ejected safely....