The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will begin to replace its McDonnell Douglas A-4SU Skyhawk fleet with a follow-on Lockheed Martin F-16C/D buy, says Second Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean.
The Ministry of Defence says the RSAF will order 20 more F-16s for delivery in the next three to four years. "There is a need to progressively replace these ageing [Skyhawk] aircraft in the RSAF's inventory as they reach the end of their life and cannot be upgraded further."
The RSAF is taking delivery of its first batch of 44 F-16C/D Block 52s and also has seven F-16A/Bs delivered from 1988.
Singaporean F-16s are powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-229s engines and the two-seat F-16Ds have an enlarged spine, which is thought to house extra avionics.
The MoD says it is unsure whether the new batch of aircraft will be the same configuration, and will not reveal whether the aircraft are new or used airframes.
The aircraft will be armed with Raytheon AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9P Sidewinder missiles and will carry the Lockheed Martin LANTIRN navigation and targeting system.
Source: Flight International
