Oman

Introduction

The Royal Air Force of Oman ordered 12 F-16C/D block 50 aircraft, becoming the 23rd F-16 customer world-wide and the 5th Arab F-16 customer.

Inventory

Peace A'sama A'safiya I

On October 4th, 2001, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale of F-16C/D fighters and associated weapons, equipment and technical and logistical support to Oman. The Government of Oman wanted to purchase 12 F-16C/D Block 50 aircraft. The estimated cost of the total deal is $1.1 billion, if all options are taken.

In May 2002, the Sultanate of Oman signed an agreement with the U.S. government to purchase 12 Advanced Block 50 F-16s in the Peace A'sama A'safiya (Clear Skies) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The agreement includes eight single-seat F-16Cs and four two-seat F-16Ds, powered by the General Electric F110-GE-129 engine.

On August 4th, 2005, the the Royal Air Force of Oman accepted the first F-16 at Lockheed's Fort Worth facilities. The first Oman F-16 is a two-seat F-16D model and was accepted by the U.S. government (as agent for Oman in the FMS process) on July 19, 2005, one month ahead of schedule. The first single-seat F-16C version flew in August 2005 and was accepted in September. These two aircraft were ferried to Oman in mid- October 2005 to support the 35th National Day celebrations on November 18th. The remainder of the aircraft will be ferried to Oman during 2006.

Peace A'sama A'safiya II

On August 3rd, 2010 a new order for another 18 F-16s was announced. Final contract negotiations have to be concluded before this order gets a green light. Eventually on December 14th, 2011 it was announced that a further order of 12 F-16s was imminent, compromising 10 C-models and 2 D-models. The program is worth $600 million and will be concluded by 2016.

RAFO Inventory

Program	Model	Block	Qty.	Serials	Delivered
Peace A'sama A'safiya I	F-16C	Block 50	8	810/812-814/818	2005-2006
	F-16D	Block 50	4	801/804	2005-2006
Peace A'sama A'safiya II	F-16C	Block 50	10	830/839	2014
	F-16D	Block 50	2	821/822	2014

Modifications & Armament

Engines & Avionics

The aircraft delivered to Oman under the FMS deal would be equiped with General Electric F110-GE-129 engines and AN/APG-68(V)XM radars. Also included are 14 SNIPER pods with Terrain Following Radar. This means these F-16s have the most powerful hardware package available at this moment. Latest news is that these SNIPER pods were going to be replaced by 7 advanced PANTERA pods.

Armament

The deal also included a comprehensive weapons package, consisting of 50 AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles, 10 AMRAAM training missiles, 100 AIM-9M-8/9 Sidewinder missiles, 10 Sidewinder training missiles, 80 AGM-65D/G Maverick missiles, 10 Maverick training missiles, 20 AGM-84D Harpoon Anti-ship missiles, 100 Enhanced GBU-10 and 100 Enhanced GBU-12 500 lb laser guided bombs, 50 GBU-31(v)3/B JDAM's, 50 CBU-97/105 sensor fuzed weapons, 50,000 20mm high explosive projectiles, 50,000 20mm training projectiles, 300 MK-82 500 lb general purpose bombs, 200 MK-83 1,000 lb general purpose bombs, 20,000 RR-170 self-protection chaff and 20,000 MJU-7B self-protection flares.

Goodrich DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system

Oman has selected Goodrich Corporation's DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system for use on F-16 fighters. A total of 4 systems was ordered in 2012 in a $34.3 million program.

The DB-110 digital, real-time, tactical reconnaissance system allows pilots to capture images day or night using electro-optical sensor technology.The camera is enclosed in a 19ft (6m) pod mounted on the underside of an aircraft. Images are fed in real time into a ground station. The camera itself can be easily directed via receiver units situated within the pod to focus in on a particular area.

Imagery is viewed on the F-16's cockpit video display, enabling the navigator to verify targets and conduct tasks such as battle damage assessment. The Polish F-16s will be the first Fighting Falcons to be outfitted with this technology.

Operational Service

Units

Please refer to the F-16 Units section for an overview of units.