Lockheed Martin announced the successful first flight of the F-16 Block 70 at its Greenville, South Carolina location on Jan. 24.
GV22-0020 F-16 Bahrain EB1 First Flight 20230125 V2 from LM Aero Multimedia on Vimeo.
The F-16 Block 70 jet is the first of 16 jets to be delivered to Bahrain, and was flown by test pilots Dwayne “Pro” Opella and Monessa “Siren” Balzhiser. The flight lasted approximately 50 minutes and included various airworthiness checks, such as engine, flight control, and fuel system checks, as well as basic aircraft handling.
Six nations have chosen the Block 70/72 aircraft. There is a current official backlog of 128 jets to be constructed in Greenville, and Jordan recently signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for an additional 12 jets, with Lockheed Martin receiving a contract to start the long-lead activities for Jordan. Bulgaria also signed an LOA for 8 more jets, which will bring the total backlog to 148.
Danya Trent, the F-16 Vice President and Site Lead in Greenville, made a statement regarding the successful first flight of the F-16 Block 70 at the Greenville, South Carolina site. She said that Lockheed Martin is dedicated to providing high-quality platforms for their customers’ important missions. She also expressed pride in the team in Greenville for their work in the development, design, digital engineering, supply chain and production line advancements to make the already successful F-16 platform even better, which will continue to provide support for customers’ national security for many years to come.
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