Lockheed Martin has begun flight testing the F-16E/F Block 60, with a 50min first flight on 6 December. The United Arab Emirates has ordered 80 Block 60s, named Desert Falcons. The first three aircraft will be handed over to the UAE in April, for training in Tucson, Arizona. Five more aircraft are to be delivered in-country by the end of next year. Powered by the uprated General Electric F110-132, the two-seat F-16F made its first flight equipped with the Northrop Grumman APG-80 active-array radar and integrated forward-looking infrared and targeting system, with its Falcon Edge electronic-warfare system to be added later.
Source: Flight International
