It has been known for some time that Israel is looking for as much as 100 new fighters by the turn of the century.

Thomson Training & Simulation (TT&S), a subsidiary of Thomson CSF, has been selected by Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems to produce an F-16A simulator for the Pakistan Air Force. The decision, which marks the 16th simulator produced by TT&S for the F-16A, was made at the Dubai 97 Air Show on 18 November 1997.

The U.S. commerce secretary Tuesday threw his weight behind Lockheed Martin's bid to supply the UAE and Saudi Arabia with warplanes, saying the U.S. aerospace industry accounted for 850, 000 jobs.

The Pentagon said Wednesday that Singapore seeks $287 million in services and support for its F-16C/D fighters including a new 20mm cannon, modifications and maintenance, training, spare parts and support equipment.

The Pentagon said yesterday that South Korea is seeking spare parts for a range of aircraft, radar and missile systems under a $160 million deal.

In the next month, the F-16 Systems Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is to present its evaluation of the F-16aircraft "Gold Strike" program to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Ryan.

Bahrain has told the United States it wants to buy 12 additionalF-16s. But the Gulf Arab state has not yet decided whether it will buy the planes new or used from U.S. Air Force stocks. In 1987 Bahrain bought 12 F-16s under the Peace Crown program. Now they have notified Congress that they want to buy 12 more -- either new or from inventory, similar to what Jordan did. Without weapons systems, an F-16 sells for about $30 million.

The U.S. Congress has urged the Clinton administration not to supply arms to Indonesia that could be used in East Timor. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975 and annexed it in 1976. The United Nations has refused to recognize the annexation.

Portugal will upgrade 20 of its F-16 fighters with modification kits bought from LMTAS. The deal, worth about $185 million, would also include support equipment, training, technical assistance and spare parts.

Ecuador hopes to procure up to 50 fighters to match Peru's recent purchase of MiG-29s from Belarus. Ecuadorian leaders have met with US officials to discuss the possible acquisition of Lockheed Martin F-16 or Boeing F/A-18 aircraft.

Taiwan is seeking $420 million in pilot training and support for its F-16fighter jets and spare parts for a wide range of Taipei's military aircraft.

There is a slight chance that Slovenia will buy 10 to 12 F-16s in the not-too-distant future.

Two ASRAAMs were fired from an F-16 at the US Air Force's Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The first was the firing of the final `dispersion round' and was used to gather vibration and seeker dome heating data.

A French News Agency reported that the Turkish Airforce is currently negotiating on the assembly of 24 additional Block 50 F-16 C/D's. Some of these are believed to be attrition replacements. The Turkish AF has so far lost 12 F-16 aircraft.

Turkish special forces on Wednesday destroyed dummy anti-aircraft missile launchers in northern Cyprus in a warning to Greek Cypriots over armament plans.