Lockheed Martin has a new 10-year, $62-billion U.S. Air Force contract to produce 90 F-16 fighter jets for sale to allied defense forces under the Foreign Military Sales program. The overall contract covers the pre-priced, recurring "core" costs, as well as non-recurring costs.
The F-16 Falcon is a single-engine, supersonic fighter jet developed by General Dynamics and now manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It’s a multirole fighter aircraft, and according to Lockheed there are approximately 3,000 operational F-16s in service today with 25 countries.
Recently, the Republic of China agreed to purchase 66 F-16s in the first U.S. sale of fighter jets to Taiwan 1962 in 1992. Other U.S. allies that maintain F-16 fleets include Egypt, Israel, Norway, Pakistan, and Turkey, among others.
The DoD Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program manages sales of U.S. arms and defense equipment, delivery of defense services, and handles military training to foreign governments. The buyers conduct their procurement, logistics, and delivery transactions with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency rather than with Lockheed or other suppliers. In addition, DSCA handles associated infrastructure construction (such as hangars, runways, service centers, etc.) at foreign military sites.
Under the new 10-year contract, DoD projects will work will be completed by year-end 2026. The primary manufacturing and assembly will be carried out at Lockheed plants in Greenville, S.C. and Fort Worth, Tex.
