In a ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville facility, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic, Robert Kaliňák, along with delegates from the United States and Slovakia, commemorated the delivery of Slovakia’s first two F-16 Block 70 aircraft.
This event, say Lockheed, “marks a new era in European air defence, underscoring the deepening partnership between the two allied nations”.
F-16 Block 70 fighter jets will help the Slovak Republic to once again ensure the protection of its airspace with its own capacities.
“The two aircraft, a single-seat C-model and a two-seat D-model, will remain in Greenville for maintenance training. This training is crucial for Slovak Air Force personnel to ensure the smooth integration and effective operation of the F-16 fleet. More jets are slated for completion by 2025, with the first group of aircraft anticipated to arrive in Slovakia by mid-2024.”
OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager of the Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin, emphasised the milestone’s strategic importance:
“Slovakia is at the forefront of adopting Europe’s most advanced 4th generation fighter, the F-16 Block 70. These jets not only represent a stronger alliance between Slovakia, the United States, and NATO allies but also equip the Slovak Air Force with advanced capabilities to face 21st Century Security challenges.”
The F-16 Block 70 jets are equipped with the Northrop Grumman APG-83 AESA Radar, advanced avionics, an extended structural service life of 12,000 hours, and critical safety features like the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS). Lockheed Martin has a backlog of 133 F-16 Block 70/72 jets to be produced in Greenville, with seven total jets delivered to-date for international partners.
“Block 70″…..? bugger me, and we are holding on for Block 3 F35’s ….. 🙄
The F-16 programme has been running since the 1970s, as the far older aircraft it has progressed through more iterative ‘Blocks’ then the newer F-35. The F-16 has also had more sub variants that were issued their own Block. The F-35 is far more uniform in configuration meaning it hasn’t progressed through as many Blocks as changes are made.
I know mate… I was just being Sarky… again…. F16 has been an Incredible success.
Good evening Frank, It is a very popular platform, even today, I wonder what will eventually replace it? I thought it was supposed to be the F-35A? I could be wrong.
Quite a history.
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon variants
Courtesy Of Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon_variants
Whislt the rest of Europe rearms, the British dearms , not only that the British Government goes out of its way to punish anybody who has served Queen and country in which to appease Islamists , such as handing over £1 million today to build a memorial for Muslim soldiers.
I don’t really have a problem with the memorial.
I do have a big problem with another £6Bn down the toilet at the totally unreformed NHS. They will simply bleat that it is hot in summer and demand more and it is cold in winter to demand more.
Do not forget the bunch of “doctors” who took an oath to “cause no harm” who are striking and causing harm. Ah well, its only 35% they want, soon swallow up 6 billion in the bottomless pit 😅
I’ve got to agree. Especially when you consider only 3 countries in the world pay their doctors more than the UK , over the lifetime of their careers. I know many many doctors are earning £100+ an hour to do locum shifts because they’ve reduced their hours or come off their training rotations simply because they don’t need to strive to become a consultant when such salaries are easily available. The medics were offered +13% pay rise and turned it down. Nurses and all other public sector workers got around 5-6% pay settlement, so another year of significantly below inflation… Read more »
And of the 3 countries that pay more we are the only country to give essentially free training?
I know junior doctors bleat about the relatively small debt levels and starting salaries. But after a few short years they are earning far more per annum than the debt levels anyway. Conveniently forgetting the massive state pension contributions, as well, which are a reasonable part of the overall calculus.
Thing is the population don’t have much sympathy for doctors. Used to be a very highly regarded profession now quite sordid.
Probably going on new fax machines, horrendously expensive now that no one else uses them.
They fought with British forces through both World Wars, @750 thousand of them and your point is what if not totally racist ?
Mohamed: 1) By decree, British government funded War memorials do not have any religion embossed onto them, This was done so as ensure that no one religion can hold precedence over another because as we all know, there are idiots in all faiths that not only do so, but will go out and cause trouble by playing the victim card. 2) Islam is not a race it is a religion, this I can substantiate by the fact that Blacks, browns, yellow and white people can be Muslims. This is exactly what I pointed out in my serial above regards how… Read more »
Well that’s a new low.
Why is it? The Uk funded the magnificent India gate in New Delhi for all the troops that fought for empire during WW1, (be they Islamic, Hindu , etc , it was stated at the time that no distinction would be made for religion and that all those who gave their best would be honoured as only brave men, and woman) why there’s loads of memorials across the Uk which honour the Indian soldiers who served the motherland, such as the Chattri memorial, the India army memorial room at RMAS (if you get the chance visit that alone for the… Read more »
Got to agree with you there fella, why are we handing over £1 million for a memorial for Muslim soldiers? We already have one in London, the Cenotaph I believe, built as a memorial to all those who fell in both and subsequent wars, including those soldiers from across the commonwealth!
“Oh I’m so offended”…. Yes, you certainly sound it…. with an added dose of Insults thrown in.
It’s OK though, I remember some of your previous rants about Islam and other religions…. You don’t need to worry.
All Nation’s who have fought for either Queen’s or King’s of the Empire, & QE 2nd since deserve memorial’s where ever they came from or what Religion they had/have. Tory Government’s are alway’s the first to cut Armed Forces, Police, Fire, Teaching, & waste BILLION’S on NHS stuff that line’s the pocket’s of companies that they are share holder’s in.
I guess we can afford £1 million for the 5.5 million that fought on the allied side during WWII, you wear the uniform you serve cock, ex Royal Navy myself.
A little fact which you appear not to know, War memorials in the Uk are religious neutral (note I said memorials and not grave stones) this is so done so as to treat all the dead as equals and keep religious bickering out of the equation, as seen on the 4th August 1919 when Viscount Wolmer asked the Prime Minister whether he will give instructions that symbols representing, respectively, the Christian, Mahomedan, and Jewish faiths be engraved on any cenotaph or war memorial erected to men who have fallen in the War, so as to exclude the suggestion that they were… Read more »
I agree that all memorials should honour the service and sacrifice irrespective of other ‘spectator’ issues.
They fell with their mates and should be honoured with them too.
👍Certainly!
I left the UK years ago after a long military career. I can’t begin to tell you how sad it is to see the UK falling behind in so many areas, and so quickly too.
About time, I read Lockheed have a backlog of over 140 since they moved to Green Ville. As a company they need a boot up the arse.
Uh what.?
The goal is to maintain a backlog so the production line stays hot. Not the stupid British way of shutting it down and struggling to restart it again after years pass.
Or maybe there is a bit of a backlog and they need a wriggle on.
As for the British thingy the issue with Typhoon was it never got the exports needed as the other countries were pretty awkward about export licences. I’m looking at you Germany.
I do agree that we do need an interim Typhoon order as I’ve no idea what the folks at BAE are doing other than make work……
Absolutely Germany playing up didn’t help .And more Typhoons for RAF well needed now that Trench 1 ready for chop .Would RAF got rid of Hurricanes before Battle of Britain ?
Well to be fair the initial pre war orders for even Spitfires was rather small, because it was expected that new generation Whirlwinds and Typhoons would be the next and superior generation aircraft by 1941/42. Only when the war was certain and those future designs did not materialise for delays, cancellations and developmental concerns and practical need for airframes NOW that big orders for Hurricanes and Spitfires initiated. Indeed Camm was designing its replacement as the Hurricane barely got off the ground as it was essentially just a stopgap solution. Perhaps like then events should affect our thinking at least… Read more »
The folks at BAE make the rear fuselage for the F-35.
That I know……but that doesn’t keep the full line alive?
BAE Systems have a 37.42 % workshare commitment to Typhoon production,with the future German and Spanish orders they will still have a good amount of work to do.
True
But not final assembly?
Not final assembly but still substantial work.
Spain are talking about ordering additional Tranche 5 aircraft to replace their Tranche 2. The UK meanwhile aren’t even looking at replacing the Tranche 1s with Tranche 4.
I wonder why that is? “The UK will be left increasingly reliant on military allies due to a £29bn financial black hole in defence spending, MPs have warned. The influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned the government currently lacked a “credible plan” to fund the Ministry of Defence. PAC warned this “undermined” the credibility of Britain’s armed forces. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has promised defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP when “economic conditions allow”. MPs also renewed their criticism of the MoD’s procurement processes, saying that slow delivery of new systems had caused gaps in military capability. Only two… Read more »
Nukes.
Pensions.
AUKUS.
Tempest.
Does Spain have any of those in its core budget?
Check it out on Google.
I don’t need to mate. With the possible exception of pensions the answer is no. You did ask “wonder why that is” regards Spain being able to get more Typhoon where we currently cannot.
There are just some examples that I was trying to point out.
It’s a very good point Danielle. Nuke boats are big ticket items, especially the SSBNs. On balance though, what a force multiplier. To build on your point, the Spanish navy is of course much smaller than the RN and does not have two 66, ooo ton carriers.
Of course. It’s the same with Poland and many others. We have niche assets that set us apart that I value higher than having a larger all round military at the cost of going without them.
So SSBN.
SSN.
Amphib capability and RM.
Carriers and carrier aviation.
RFA.
UKSF.
ISTAR, EW and Cyber.
MI5 MI6 GCHQ.
C17. RC135.
TLAM
Overseas bases.
The true force multipliers.
An excellent summary Mate.
This is not entirely Lockheed Martins fault, they were not expecting the international demand for new F-16 to be as great as it has developed to be.
True it is at the affordable end of Gen 4 and it is in service in enough places that it isn’t going to be an orphaned fleet.
It’s affordable to operate too. Many block 70 sensors come from the F-35 program.
Agreed, plenty of life left in this aircraft, and value for money with up to 12,000 hours on the clock! Why the F-16 fighter jet remains a force to be reckoned with (updated 2024)3rd January 2024 – 13:25 GMT “The Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet is still in the limelight over 40 years after its first flight. Shephard sums up the latest developments and tells you everything you need to know about the aircraft in the 2020s. The Block 70/72 features: advanced avionics; an APG-83 AESA radar; a modernised cockpit; conformal fuel tanks; an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System; a… Read more »
We went to see Dune 2 last night, I enjoyed it, but i know the storyline, i feel a lot of people who haven’t read the book will be lost. It would have been nice to see Alia scaring the bejesus out of the Bene Gesserit but alas that was not to be, I think they dragged out the middle of the film with fluff, but hey both films were better than the one with Sting
Thought the whole film just dragged along. Plot sacrificed to making sure the entire budget was spent on CGI battle scenes that really weren’t innovative. The David Lynch Dune is in the top ten all time worst adaptations of a book by Hollywood.
Mate, I was fortunate to see it on release in NZ on Thursday the 29th, my birthday. Best leap year gift I could have hoped for. I did miss the Spice Navigators not being in the story. That being said, DV did a sterling job and the cinematography was excellent.
I feel DV should have done the book in three film instalments. I guess he was probably constrained by Hollywood – i.e budget.
The spice must flow!
Nice to see they used a smoke and mirror show for this announcement.