Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract valued up to $1.85 billion by the US Government to initiate the upgrade of 145 Block 20 F-16A/B aircraft for the Republic of China (RoC). This retrofit programme will include the addition of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, embedded global positioning, as well as upgrades to the electronic warfare and other avionics systems of Taiwan’s F-16s.

Lockheed Martin has a proven track record of upgrading more than 1,000 existing F-16s for a combination of the US Air Force and international customers. Most recently, Lockheed Martin was named the prime integrator to upgrade the USAF F-16 fleet. Both new upgrade programmes will be based on the F-16V configuration announced by Lockheed Martin earlier this year.

“Lockheed Martin looks forward to a continued partnership with the Republic of China in upgrading their F-16s,” said Jeff Babione, Vice President and General Manager of the F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group. “Based on elements of the F-16V configuration, Taiwan’s air force will receive the most advanced F-16 upgrades. This programme reinforces the strong value proposition associated with commonality between the USAF F-16 programme and the worldwide F-16 user community.”