US Air Force moves ahead with F-16 service life extension

9 Oct. 2014 by Dan Parsons - FG

The US Air Force is pushing ahead with an effort to extend the service lives of 300 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters as a stopgap measure until the F-35 Lightning II is operational in sufficient numbers.

The service announced on 2 October it would finalise the design of the aircraft within 18 to 24 months and wants to give prospective industry bidders a “first look” into the scope of work needed to extend the aircraft’s service life from 8,000 flight hours to between 10,000 and 12,000 flight hours.

The request for information (RFI) is seeking industry input into the production and deployment of modification kits for Block 40, 42, 50 and 52 aircraft.

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