Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Lockheed Martin is offering to work with Israeli industry on F-16 upgrades as part of an industrial offset package tied to its bid to sell more aircraft to the Israeli air force.
"We are working towards a joint approach [to F-16 upgrades], but we have no agreement yet," says the company's vice-president F-16, Bob Elrod.
Israeli industry plans to modify an F-16 to demonstrate an upgrade for the Israeli air force which could then be marketed to other operators, possibly in competition with upgrades developed by Lockheed Martin. "We would rather work with them," Elrod says.
The offer of a joint approach to upgrades is part of an overall industrial package being assembled by the US manufacturer to support its bid to supply 40-60 advanced F-16s to Israel. The Boeing F-15E is also being offered, with a decision on selection expected early next year. Lockheed Martin had hoped to improve its chances by offering the F-16 with Israel's Elta EL/M-2032 radar, but that has been blocked by the US Government.
Elrod, meanwhile, confirms that F-16 co-production agreements with European companies will end this year after two decades. Production of centre fuselages by Fokker and wings by Sabca, under agreements linked to the original four-nation European purchase of F-16A/Bs, will finish. Contracts are unlikely to be renewed because Lockheed Martin faces a gap in F-16 production in 2001, based on current orders.
Elrod says extending co-production would be considered if any of the European F-16 operators placed a follow-on order, or if the companies bid competitively and won work on additional aircraft. "It becomes a matter of economics, not offsets," he says.
Pakistan's supply of spare parts for its F-16s has been cut off by the US embargo imposed following its nuclear tests. The manufacturer says the country has only a limited ability to support F-16s, and expects them to cease flying soon unless aircraft are cannibalised.
Delivery of additional F-16s ordered by Pakistan was blocked under a previous embargo, but spares for the existing fleet continued to by supplied by Lockheed Martin under the terms of a commercial contract.
Other F-16 operators would have to seek permission to provide spares "-or jeopardise their own relationship with the USA," warns the US Department of State.
Source: Flight International
