The US State Department has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Turkey of an upgrade package for the Turkish Air Force’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters, the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) announced on 17 April 2023.
The upgrade package, which is worth an estimated USD 259 M (EUR 236.2 M) and has been forwarded to the US Congress for approval, includes software upgrades of the Operational Flight Program (OFP) avionics with the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS); hardware modifications to enable integration of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Block Upgrade II (MIDS BU II), procured separately; hardware and software upgrades to include aircraft major modification; both classified and unclassified software and software support; spare and repair parts; and various other aspects of engineering, logistics and technical support.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve Türkiye’s interoperability with NATO and ensure safety of flight for Türkiye’s existing F-16 aircraft,” the DSCA stated. “The proposed sale will improve Türkiye’s capability to meet current and future threats and assist in defending its homeland and US personnel stationed there.”
Most of Turkey’s F-16s were licence built in country under the Peace Onyx I, II, III and IV programmes after TUSAS Aerospace Industries Inc (TAI) was established in 1984, then as a Turkish-US partnership, to build them.
In July 2002 Turkey became the seventh international partner in the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, initially intending to order 116 F-35As, with involvement in F-35 production, to replace the Turkish Air Force’s F-16 fleet. However, Turkey was ejected from the JSF programme on 17 July 2019 after the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to cancel a programme to procure the Russian S-400 air defence system that would have compromised the F-35’s stealth characteristics.
The Turkish Air Force will thus need to keep its fleet of F-16C/Ds in service until its indigenous TF-X (Milli Muharip Uçak, or National Combat Aircraft) fifth-generation fighter programme comes to fruition.
Turkey’s Defence Industry Agency (SSB) posted a series of photos on its website on 17 March showing the first TF-X prototype on the runway at Turkish Aerospace’s facility near Ankara, where construction of the aircraft is taking place. It is likely that the aircraft will make its maiden flight by the end of the year.
Peter Felstead
