Lockheed Martin delivers first F-16 jet of $900m USAF sustainment deal
31st Jan 2022 | In News | By Michael Tyrrell
Lockheed Martin has delivered the first F-16 fighter jet back to the US Air Force as part of the F-16 Sustainment Depot programme.
The company was originally selected for the US Air Force’s $900m F-16 Sustainment Depot programme in December 2020, and the first jet arrived in Greenville, South Carolina for work in spring 2021.
“This was the first fighter sustainment work awarded to the site, and with F-16 production also well underway in Greenville, the site is now the global home of the F-16,” said Danya Trent, Lockheed Martin vice president, F-16 programme.
The company provides full lifecycle support to the fighter, from development, production and sustainment to ensure mission readiness.
For the F-16, Lockheed Martin is hiring for more than 300 new jobs by the end of 2022 to support both F-16 sustainment and production.
Many of these positions are on the leading edge of Lockheed Martin’s digital engineering efforts – using advanced technologies and automation to reduce cost, decrease span time and improve product quality.
The F-16 has flown an estimated 19.5 million flight hours and more than 13 million sorties. Today's latest version, the Block 70/72, will be flown by at least five countries beginning in the mid-2020s.
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