F-16s to fly on desi wings in 2-3 years: Lockheed Martin

Bengaluru: Plane major Lockheed Martin said the F-16s will start flying with made in India wings in the next two to three years. This after the wings to be produced by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), their strategic industry partner in India, qualifies for the same.

Both companies are co-hosting an F-16 industry supplier conference in Bengaluru with existing F-16 suppliers and future Indian industry partners to deliberate upon the opportunities on the F-16 programme.

During an interaction with military journalists here, Lockheed Martin officials made a strong pitch for the F-16s and claimed that the fighter is the bet for the Indian Air Force.

“The TASL facility in Hyderabad has the capability to produce nine shipsets of wings per month and the production rate can also be enhanced. We felt that the wing is the right case to start with before we actually start making F-16s fully in India. Lockheed Martin is serious in making F-16s in India,” Randy Howard, Director, Business Development, Lockheed Martin.

He said the F-16s will continue to evolve and there will be more demand for the fighter in future. “It’s not just about Make in India. We want to produce it for India and later export as well,” he said.

Speaking with Onmanorma on the sidelines, Kurt G Knust, Director, F-16 India Programme, Lockheed Martin, said TASL when qualifies, will become the second supplier of wings.

“Right now F-16 wings are being produced by IAI (Israeli Aircraft Industries), our single source supplier. It depends upon the capability of the supplier how fast they can produce these wings. Difficult to predict the time by which TASL will qualify,” Kunst said. The wings are to be produced at TASL facility in Hyderabad.

Lockheed Martin has in September this year announced that TASL will become provider of wings for all future F-16 customers. Last year, both companies announced the intend to join hands to produce the F-16 Block 70 in India, if the IAF picked them up finally.

Officials at the meet claimed that approximately 3,000 F-16s are in operation today in 25 countries. They said the new production, structural and capability upgrades ensure that the F-16 will fly and fight to 2045 and beyond.

“There is a lot of technology being shared between F-16, F-22 and F-35. In fact, the F-17 Block 70 being offered to India has many cutting-edge features being taken from the F-35,” Howard said.

Leveraging from 5^th generation fighter technologies, Lockheed Martin officials said that they have integrated many capabilities into the F-16 based on US Air Force and other international combat requirements.

“To give an example, the APG-83 AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar provides F-16s with 5th generation fighter radar capabilities. The radar shares 95 per cent software commonality with the F-35 radar in addition to having 70 per cent hardware commonality. Technology improvements will continue to flow between F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at fraction of cost to F-16 operators,” he added.

In addition to AESA radar, the F-16 Block 70 features advanced avionics, a modernized cockpit, advanced weapons, conformal fuel tanks, an automatic ground collision avoidance system, an advanced engine and an industry-leading extended structural service life of 12,000 hours.