F-16 Production Might Cease in Late 2017

Worldwide media reports claim that the production line of the popular veteran aircraft may be closed at the end of 2017. The F-16 program chief at Lockheed Martin said she believes production will continue

F-16 Production Might Cease in Late 2017

In the 45 years since the F-16 Falcon made its first flight, over 4,500 aircraft of this model were produced, in almost 140 different configurations. However, it is estimated that the Lockheed Martin's production line in Fort Worth, Texas might be closed by the end of next year, after the last two clients, Iraq and Pakistan, will receive their ordered planes.

In this context, Lockheed’s F-16 program chief Susan Ouzts said during an event in Washington that the F-16 aircraft production should be continued. She emphasized the fact that the US government has promised not to sell the stealth fighter F-35 to any country in the Middle East except Israel. We can therefore conclude that there will be future customers for the F-16.

Ouzts added that some governments cannot afford to finance the purchase of the F-35, or do not need a fighter jet with elusive qualities. Therefore, in Lockheed Martin they believe in the further production of the F-16. On the other hand, Lockheed is interested in directing significant funds to the F-35 stealth fighter program.

Therefore, according to flightglobal, experts have concluded that the production of the F-16 aircraft will probably be discontinued, despite its popularity in different air forces around the world.

The F-16 Falcons were originally manufactured by General Dynamics, which sold its aircraft manufacturing division to Lockheed Martin in 1993. Since then, Lockheed's assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas manufactures one F-16 aircraft per day.