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.
RAFO F-16D block 50
#801 is being spotted during its first official flight at Fort Worth. [
LMTAS photo
]
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.
