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F-16 Fleet Reports

F-16 aircraft orders


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Data

This graph shows the annual F-16 order numbers. The delivery date is used to determine which year an F-16 was produced although - obviously - the aircraft would have rolled off the production line just before that. For aircraft still on order, the expected order date is used. The totals only include new-built airframes. Conversions and update programs (e.g. MLU or ADF) are not taken into account. Canceled and re-assigned orders are also included: for example, Iran ordered 160 F-16s, but after the fall of the Shah this order was canceled. Some airframes that were already on the production line were re-assigned to other operators and are indicate as "re-assigned production". Other aircraft were simply canceled.

Disclaimer: This report is generated in real-time from our F-16 Aircraft Database. We strive to keep our database up-to-date and complete, nevertheless for some countries data is hard to verify (e.g. accuracy for the Middle East is only 90%). Please contact us if you have any questions or feedback.

  • Horizontal Axis: Different years during which F-16s have been (or will be) ordered
  • Vertical Axis: Number of F-16 aircraft ordered during a given year
  • Series: The first series includes aircraft that have been ordered; the second series shows aircraft on order. The third series shows aircraft that were in production, canceled by the customer and then re-assigned and delivered to another customer. The fourth series includes aircraft orders that were permanently canceled and never delivered


Click on the color labels to disable/enable series; click on the zoom icons to zoom in (+) or out (-). Click on the full screen icon to display the graph full screen.

Analysis


A brand-new, unpainted F-16C leaves the production line at Lockheed's Fort Worth facilities.
The F-16 has been in nearly continuous production since 1979, spanning more than 30 years. Three distinct phases can be distinguished: prototypes and FSD aircraft were built from 1974 till 1978; volume production started in 1978, tapering off by 2001; a second volume production run started in 2002 and continuing till today.

Between 1974 and 1978, the various prototypes and Full Scale Development airframes were built. In 1974, the two YF-16 prototypes were built and delivered to the USAF for particiaption in the fly-offs against the YF-17 for the Light-Weight Fighter program. After selection of the F-16 in 1975, 8 Full-Scale Development aircraft were built and delivered starting in 1976.

In 1978 production starts to ramp up and the first operational block 1 aircraft are delivered to the USAF and to the EPAF nations (Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, and Norway). At this point, a total of 998 aircraft were on order. Production continuous to increase as more nations place orders: Israel, Pakistan, Venezuela are all early adopters of the F-16. Ultimately, 20 nations order the F-16 between 1978 and 2000. Aircraft built during this period were either F-16A/B variants, or F-16C/D (block 25/30/32/40/42/50/52).

Starting in 2002, production increases again. This is due to a combination of new customers (Oman, Chile, Poland). Variants produced since 2002 include F-16C/D block 40/42/50/52 aircraft, but also the F-16I aircraft for Israel and the block 60 aircraft for the United Arab Emrates.

A number of aircraft show up as "canceled" or "re-assigned". As explained above, these are aircraft from canceled orders. If the production hasn't started, the airframes are simply canceled. If production has started, the aircraft are typically re-assigned to another customer (for the same type of F-16 obviously), and re-assigned. In 1979, this was the case with Iran. After the fall of the Shah, Iran's F-16 order was canceled (by the US government). F-16s already on the production line were re-assigned to Israel - hence those F-16s show up as canceled for Iran, with delivery to Israel. The aircraft that already were on the production line of the canceled order for Pakistan were flown directly to AMARC. A large batch of cancelations also happened after the end of the Cold War with the USAF. They cut on the block 40 production drastically (200+ airframes).

Sometimes, cancelations are also just administrative decisions. If production slots were reserved for some countries, but they eventually decided to place the order a year later, then these aircraft show up as canceled in the year the production slots were allocated at first. This does not necessarilly mean those coutries canceled some orders, albeight just reshuffling them over the allocated delivery slots.

Visitor Comments

VIPER PRODUCTION
Patrick, Feb 18, 2020 - 09:47 PM

Hi from France

According to your report, we have 4 556 F-16 "fleet status".

According to LM, 4 588 F-16 "have been produced" : why 32 VIPER are missing ?

(global = 4 589 (-) 90-0832 destroyed pre-delivery)

Thanks for your great job.

Regards

Patrick

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