Introduction
Think of a product or brand - a car, a computer accessory, perhaps a phone - that everybody knows or has heard of, perhaps even people who who do not have knowledge of the product or the topic that the brand or product covers would know.
If you asked the general public to name a modern fighter aircraft, there’s certainly a high likelihood that many people would say F-16. It’s a fighter that even people unfamiliar with military aviation will have most definitely have heard of. It’s a fighter so renowned that even just its name resonates with the average Joe.
Produced at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Greenville, South Carolina, this fighter has a (relatively) new and even more impressive variant - the Block 70/72 F-16, otherwise known as the F-16V and leaning into its nickname: F-16: Viper. It’s worth noting that the F-16V is primarily the name given to the variant that was offered to Taiwan, and the Block 70/72 doesn’t actually use the V designation. Instead, new build Vipers are shipped as either C or D models, but this article will refer to the F-16V, Viper, and Block 70/72 interchangeably. The difference between the Block 70 and Block 72 is that the Block 70 uses General Electric F110 engines, while the Block 72 uses the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine.
While it is possible to get new build Vipers straight from the factory, it is also offered as an upgrade package for most older variants of the F-16.
New builds of the Block 70/72 are exclusively for export, and new builds as well as upgrades are slated for service in Bahrain, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Slovakia, Greece, Morocco, Jordan, and Turkey. In fact, it is already serving with 4 out of 7 of these countries - Bahrain, Greece, Slovakia, and Taiwan.
Improvements
The F-16V variant sees many improvements over the older generations of the jet, and some of those improvements are related to the structure and integrity of the jet itself. The new variant boasts a service life increase of 4,000 flight hours - an impressive 50% more than the older generations. The improvements made to the aircraft’s structural integrity is advertised to be able to push new builds beyond the year 2060.
The Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) will be able to afford older Block 40/50 models of F-16 this same boost in service life.
The aircraft also features a new Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS II) helmet, new cockpit displays, better engines, Infrared Search and Track (IRST), improvements to its navigation systems, Ground Collision Avoidance System (GCAS), and a new flight computer.
GCAS in particular was a capability introduced as a software upgrade for older model F-16s, and being that it has already saved 12 lives, it is surely to save more with its native integration into the new Viper. In May of 2015, an incident occurred in which a pilot experienced G-LOC (G-induced Loss of Consciousness) and was just 4 seconds away from death before the Auto GCAS system kicked in and pulled 9.1 Gs to get the aircraft out of the deadly dive it was in.
The F-16V also comes with conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) which will boost the aircraft’s range with an additional 3,000 lbs of fuel, although as with CFTs on older model F-16s, they can be removed on the ground during maintenance.
Radar
The Viper houses the AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) - an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) system that shares similarity and improvements taken from the F-22’s AN/APG-77 and F-35’s AN/APG-81 radar systems. According to Northrop Grumman, the operating modes of the radar shares 95% similarity with the AN/APG-81 radar used in the F-35.
The radar as an upgrade to older models of F-16 requires no structural modifications, to the aircraft, and it is perfectly functional under the F-16’s existing power and cooling limits. Lockheed Martin actually has a detailed video that illustrates the relative ease of installing the new radar out in the field.
This radar has also been selected by the US Air Force for upgrades to its own F-16 fleet. Moreover, it is incredibly unique in the fact that not only is it in use with the Viper, but an enlarged version of it was selected to be used in the B-1B Lancer bomber fleet, and was under consideration for upgrades to the old radar used in the B-52 bomber, although it eventually lost out to the AN/APG-82(V)1 radar from the F-15EX. This variant of the radar for America’s bomber fleet is known as SABR-GS (GS for Global Strike), and is 3 times the size of the one used in the F-16.
The US Marine Corps and Northrop Grumman also completed a successful fit check of the radar on an F/A-18, but the radar has not since been selected for upgrades to any of US Navy’s or USMC’s F/A-18 aircraft or future builds.
Electronic Warfare (EW)
At least 6 customers of the Viper are expected to equip their jets with the new AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield system. These countries are Bahrain, Bulgaria, Morocco, Slovakia, Jordan, and Taiwan.
As is the case with most EW systems, they’re incredibly classified in nature and information on them is quite limited. Nonetheless, we’ll go over what we know.
The system, first introduced in 2021, is designed to provide the aircraft with both protection and also offensive EW capabilities such as jamming of hostile systems. In 2023, its designer L3Harris conducted a 12 hour long test of the system to ensure that the high energy pulses of the Viper’s radar would not cause interference in the EW system, and this test was considered successful.
The system’s defensive capabilities include a Digital Radar Warning Receiver (DRWR), one of the most advanced of capabilities that provides advanced radar and missile launch threat warnings, and defensive jamming capabilities to help mitigate the threat of those radar systems as well as incoming missiles.
As is increasingly common among modern fighters and their upgrades, this EW system can be integrated into the aircraft, and does not require an externally mounted pod like some older generations of aircraft, although that is offered as an installation option.
IRST
Following the trend of incorporating typically externally mounted capabilities into the airframe itself, the Viper boasts the capability to use the Legion-ES (ES standing for Embedded System) IRST system. This allows the pilot to track threats at long range beyond what the eyes can see, as well as zoom in on potentially unknown objects and targets that the pilot may see on his or her air or ground radar screens.
The ES is an adaption of Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod system which is smaller and is designed to be permanently fixed to the F-16V airframe underneath the fuselage as an alternative to the full Legion Pod which is larger and is externally mounted as one of the aircraft’s payloads, although the full pod is supposed to have more capabilities.
The ES is a system built to order, and is not natively equipped on all new Viper airframes.
Information on the ES is sparse, and so far the only customer we know of that might be opting for the ES system is Taiwan after the US Government posted a sales notification back in August of 2023. Although the exact type of IRST system is not known as it wasn’t specified in the notification, and there is very little information surrounding the ES variant of the Legion Pod, and no known customers beyond Taiwan whom would have an excellent use case for IRST as an aid in detection of China’s J-20 stealth fighter.
With that being said, the only example we have of a seemingly embedded IRST pod is the mystery one displayed at TADTE in 2019, which appeared to be mounted on the F-16’s engine intake. If there was a customer that would be the most likely to receive the first order of the ES, it is probably Taiwan.
To what degree the ES variant shares with the regular Legion Pod is not known, but one of the best capabilities of the Legion Pod is the data link which allows the pod to share IRST data with other aircraft and their own IRST Legion Pods.
Armament
The F-16V is able to carry the following munitions:
- AIM-120 AMRAAM (A/B/C/D)
- AIM-9 Sidewinder (M/L/X)
- Python (4/5)
- Mk80 and GBU series general purpose and GBU glide bombs (Mk82, Mk83, Mk84, GBU-10, GBU-12, GBU-16, GBU-24, GBU-31, GBU-32, GBU-38, GBU-39, GBU-49, GBU-50, GBU-53, GBU-54, GBU-56, GBU-73)
- AGM-65 Maverick (E/F)
- AGM-84 Harpoon
- AGM-84K SLAM-ER
- AGM-88 HARM/AARGM
- AGM-154 JSOW
- AGM-158 (B/C JASSM/LRASM)
- IRIS-T
As well as a number of other accessory items such as fuel tanks, ECM pods, targeting pods, training equipment, and more.
Who’s Getting Them?
Taiwan
Taiwan opted to both upgrade its existing fleet of F-16s to the new standard, as well as procure existing ones. Taiwan initially desired to acquire the F-35, but its request was ultimately rejected by the United States amid security concerns - particularly related to China.
The result is that it was offered the F-16V instead, and thus the F-16V itself was born. Its fleet of 141 older generation F-16A/Bs of Block 20 and 50/52 were upgraded to the new standard in a contract worth $4.5 billion, with its first exclusively F-16V squadron being stood up in November of 2021. In addition, Taiwan is to procure a further 66 new build F-16s of the Block 70/72 variant in a contract worth $8 billion, the first of which are set to be delivered some time in late 2024.
Turkey
Procurement for the Turkish Air Force shares some similarity with Taiwan, as well as having its own problems. After Turkey procured the S-400 air defense system from Russia, its participation in the F-35 program was suspended amid security concerns and its procurement of the Viper has been met with delays over political disagreements and its relationship with NATO’s primary adversary.
Nonetheless, Turkey ordered 40 new build Block 70 F-16s and 79 upgrade kits for its existing fleet of over 200 F-16 aircraft, and the deal appears to be proceeding as normal, although the country is yet to receive any of the new Vipers or upgrade kits at the time of writing.
Greece
Greece is another country that opted to upgrade some of its existing F-16s to the new standard, expecting to upgrade a total of 85 Block 50/52s, which will mostly occur inside Greece and is expected to be completed by 2027.
As of July 2024, at least 20 of Greece’s F-16s had been upgraded to the Viper standard, after the estimated $1.5 billion program first begun in October of 2017 with the first deliveries taking place in September of 2022.
Bahrain
Bahrain will acquire 16 new build F-16 Block 70/72s, and the first 3 arrived in March of 2024. Bahrain seemingly chose not to upgrade its 20 older model F-16s of the Block 20 variant which were delivered between 1990 and 2000.
The first F-16D Block 70 of 16 aircraft intended for the Royal Bahrain Air Force made its maiden flight on January 24, 2023 from Greenville in the hands of Lockheed Martin test pilots Dwayne ‘Pro’ Opella and Monessa ‘Siren’ Balzhiser.
Slovakia
Slovakia did not previously operate F-16 aircraft, and so will be acquiring 14 new build Vipers to replace its aging MiG-29 fleet.
The first 5 jets began arriving in country in July of 2024, and it is expected that the rest will have been delivered by 2025.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria - much like Slovakia - did not previously operate the F-16, and will be acquiring 16 new build Vipers to replace its MiG-29 fleet.
At the time of writing, Bulgaria is yet to receive any of its ordered Vipers.
Morocco
First word of Morocco acquiring the Viper spread in March of 2019 when the United States approved a foreign military sale for 25 Block 72 F-16s and related equipment and ammunition in a deal worth $3.7 billion. Additionally, Morocco was to upgrade its existing fleet to the new standard after a separate deal worth almost $1 billion.
At the time of writing, Morocco has not yet received any Vipers, nor has it upgraded any of its existing fleet to the new variant.
Jordan
In February of 2022, Jordan received a positive answer to buy the new Viper from the United States, and in January of 2023, Jordan signed a deal worth approximately $4.21 billion for 12 Block 70 F-16 Vipers to help modernise its aging fleet of 59 F-16s of older variants.
The deliveries of the new Viper are expected to begin some time in 2027.
United States
While the US isn’t officially deploying the new variant of the F-16, it is actually upgrading at least 608 of its older F-16 models with technology that is present in the new Viper - including the AN/APG-83 radar - in a program worth $6.3 billion.
Conclusion
The Block 70/72 F-16 will become an increasingly common sight in the coming years as more and more countries begin operating it. It will see the modernisation of numerous countries’ air forces and will help see the F-16 operate long into the mid 21st century.
The Viper itself will also likely continue to receive upgrades to help it compete with more modern and advanced threats.