The upgrade will create a common avionics configuration for the service’s fleet of F-16 Block 40 and 50 aircraft. More than 200 F-16 aircraft make up the backbone of Turkey’s current fighter fleet. Systems to be integrated on Turkey’s upgraded F-16s include:
- The AN/APG-69(V)9 radar that is currently being installed on new F-16 Advanced Block 50/52 aircraft
- Color cockpit displays
- The Modular Mission Computer and new avionics processors
- The Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS)
- The Link 16 datalink
- New identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) transponders
- AN/AVS-9 night-vision goggles
- Upgraded navigation systems; and
- BAE Systems’ AN/ALQ-178(V)5+ electronic-warfare (EW) system, mounted internally, with radar-warning and jamming capabilities for aircraft self-protection
The deal will be conducted under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, with Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth, TX serving as principle contractor, although the actual modification of the aircraft will be performed by TUSAS Aerospace Industries in Ankara, Turkey. TUSAS is currently the focus of a Turkish defense industry consolidation plan sponsored by the Turkish government.
Political Background
In all probability, this program’s cost and scope will end Turkish inquiries concerning the Eurofighter Typhoon as a bridge between its current F-16 fleet and the J-35 Joint Strike Fighter scheduled to arrive around 2015. Turkey had also been complaining about levels of local work share and technology transfer in a number of defense deals with the United States; presumably, the work done by TUSAS was enough to address this.
The joint statement also came immediately after Turkey’s Cabinet approved a long-standing U.S. request to allow the American military to fly more supplies into Iraq and Afghanistan from a strategic air base in southern Turkey. Incirlik, located on the outskirts of the southern city of Adana, is currently home to some 10 U.S. refueling aircraft used to support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are about 1,400 U.S. airmen at the base.
The United States was seeking permission to establish an expanded logistics hub at Incirlik to be able to fly large civilian cargo flights to the base and redistribute the cargo to military aircraft bound for Afghanistan and Iraq. Washington was also asking for blanket clearance for all cargo flights. Turkey has insisted in the past that the United States had to get separate permission for each flight.
The Turkish decision on Incirlik was a step toward improving relations with the United States that were strained when Turkey refused to allow the 4th Infantry Division to invade Iraq from Turkish territory in March 2003.
Contracts & Key Events
Turkey’s Fighter Future?
Sept 26/07: Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp. received a $10 million order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for the integration and test support for the Turkish Peace Onyx III F-16 Integration and Test Program for the Government of Turkey under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. and is expected to be completed in December 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
Dec 22/06: Lockheed Martin Corp., in Fort Worth, TX received a $635.1 million firm-price-incentive contract modification. This effort will provide for 216 modification kits for 76 F-16 Block 50, 103 F-16 Block 40, and 37 F-16 Block 30 aircraft for the Turkish Air Force (TuAF). The effort also includes flight testing, training, technical support and sustainment activities.
This contract continues work started under an initial contract signed in July 2005, based on an agreement signed between the governments of Turkey and the United States in April 2005; at this time, total funds have been obligated. Solicitations began May 2005, negotiations were complete November 2006, and work will be complete February 2016. Work will occur primarily at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facility in Fort Worth, TX and at Tusas Aerospace Industries in Ankara, Turkey. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract
