Lockheed Martin has revealed that the Chilean air force’s new F-16C/D Block 50 fighters have been fitted with internal plumbing to support the installation of conformal fuel tanks as a potential near-term upgrade.
Meanwhile, the service plans to use the aircraft’s Symetrics Industries-supplied improved data modem (IDM) as the basis for networking with Chile’s existing air defence ground environment and Boeing 707 Condor airborne early-warning aircraft.
The latter approach is believed to include the first roll-out of a variable message format (VMF)-based networking capability in a South American air force.
VMF is used primarily as a land force networking protocol, but its integration into IDM was sponsored by the US Army to support networking requirements for battlefield helicopters. It is increasingly being looked at by small defence forces as a means of providing an initial networking capability more affordably than acquiring Link 16 tactical datalinks.
The ex-Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16s purchased by Chile were also fitted with the IDM as part of their mid-life upgrade.
A common upgrade path for the used and new-build aircraft, derived from the US Air Force’s common configuration implementation programme and the United Arab Emirates’ Block 60 F-16E/Fs, has been briefed to the Chilean air force, says Lockheed’s Chile programme director, John Balderston.
“The road is there when they are ready to take it,” he says. No order has yet been placed for conformal fuel tanks, the company adds.
PETER LA FRANCHI / SANTIAGO
Source: Flight International
