4,000th F-16 Slated for March Delivery

Asian Aerospace 2000 -- Lockheed Martin expects to deliver the 4,000th F-16 in March, and is riding a wave of 200 new orders logged in 1999. Recent orders include 50 advanced two-seat F-16I fighters for Israel, with options on 60 more; a follow-on order for 24 aircraft for Egypt, and 58 fighters for Greece. Formal letters of offer and acceptance for the Greek contract are to be signed within a few days. Firm orders will now keep the line open until February 2006.

Korea is expected to buy a follow-on batch of 20 F-16s, says program vice-president Bill Anderson. Norway's selection has slipped into the fall, he says, and the company is proposing two alternative versions: an advanced Block 50 and a version resembling the Block 60 aircraft proposed to the United Arab Emirates, with an active-array radar and internal FLIR/laser system. As for the long-deferred UAE order, Anderson says that "we have worked through some really challenging items, and we're down to a number of small issues."