JORDAN HAS signed an agreement to lease 16 ex-US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs from the USA, which will pay for the bulk of the $220 million deal. Most of the funds will go towards structural and engine upgrades for the aircraft, which have 25% of their 4,000h lives remaining.
The 12 single-seat F-16As and four two-seat F-16Bs will be upgraded by the USAF's Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah. Deliveries will begin in December 1997 and the aircraft will be used for air defence.
Lockheed Martin has handed over the first of 150 F-16A/Bs to Taiwan. The aircraft, one of 30 two-seat F-16Bs in the $6 billion order, was rolled out on 25 July.
Source: Flight International
