Poland has signed a formal Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the United States to modernise its 48 F-16 Block 52+ fighter jets to the advanced F-16 Viper configuration, a package aimed at extending their operational life and enhancing combat capability for NATO missions.
Lockheed Martin will serve as the primary contractor, with Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 2 (WZL-2) in Bydgoszcz carrying out the upgrade work in-country.
The F-16V package will equip the Polish Air Force with APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array Scalable Agile Beam radar, a high-resolution centre pedestal display, an upgraded mission computer, and a new display generator.
Additional modifications will integrate advanced helmet-mounted systems, electronic warfare enhancements, the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod with Digital Video Interface, and the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System. Structural changes will extend the service life of the aircraft to 12,000 flight hours, while simulator upgrades will accompany the fleet overhaul.
Lockheed Martin described the upgrade as a step to keep Poland’s fleet relevant for decades. “The F-16 Viper upgrades strengthen Poland’s fleet for the missions ahead,” said Nick Smythe, the company’s vice president of Sustainment Campaign Strategies and Business Development. “These enhancements deliver advanced airpower capabilities by keeping the F-16 interoperable with 5th Generation platforms like the F-35, aligned with NATO missions and backed by sustained readiness and partnership with Polish industry.”
The work at WZL-2 will leverage local expertise and expand Poland’s defence industrial capacity. Lockheed Martin has invested $1.8 billion in the country’s defence ecosystem over the past decade, developing supply chain resilience and fostering skills transfer. The company said the F-16 programme will deepen industrial cooperation and workforce development, providing long-term benefits for Poland’s aerospace sector as well as its air force.
Just how many flying hours do the frames have left?
Great on Poland now if they could just swing the UKE fleet through the process as well…
Good Russians are dead Russians.
Really makes you wonder what could have been done with 30 Tranche 1 Typhoons with thousands of hours of life in the airframes and an already developed upgrade path from Spain.
Others on here will know better than me – Robert Blay – could it have done any harm?
Logistics. Pilot training. Small numbers. However, I like your point.
The only good Russian is a dead Russian.
The MoD is always very good at coming up with excuses to scrap weapons systems and those excuses tend to be training, logistics maintenance etc.
It’s a line straight from sir Humphrey and normally parroted on here by “experts” but the simple fact is that the same plane will continue to fly in the Falklands until the end of the decade and Spain has already commenced an upgrade program.
We are a nation of “professional” warriors who never consider large scale war and think hiding behind the never ending excuses of Politicans stealing their lunch money and don’t you know logistics old boy make up for it all yet wealthier countries than ours like Finland maintain larger forces on ten percent of our budget.
I think we probably need some sort of institutional feedback mechanism within the MOD that can constrain the treasury and their bright ideas. Maybe an overseeing audit committee which has Defence of the Realm as its principle guiding star and not next years budget. It could act as a gate to block bad short term decisions which could only be overridden by a full cabinet decision. This makes Defence a responsibility of the entire government and assigns responsibility for bad decisions to accountable politicians. It might make a few of them wary of being seen to being weak on defence and might open up the purse strings of the Treasury a bit more.
I have always thought that the Defence Select Committee needs more teeth. It is very good at asking questions and sometimes the correct ones? But it is very poor at making the MoD do anything other than spouting the current Government’s rhetoric or party line. If the Committee was given legislative powers, perhaps we would see a change? But I doubt any Government will be willing to give up a portion of its power in this regard.
Agree, but our politicians have to have the will do it. They don’t.
Our politicans commit £60 billion of tax payers money each year to the MoD and no defence secretary has been in the job for much more than two years.
At some point we need to focus the blame on the military and the civil service.
Why £60 billion a year equates to a fast jet force of less than 150 planes when Finland can afford 64 F35’s on 10% of our budget.
Again, I agree Jim…BUT we all know that that the money for what the miltary are expected to do is not enough. By the time you take out Trident and delays over every project under the sun our hollowed out defence budget is not working. Now we have another bunch with defence being descibed as road repairs and rural broadband !! We desperately need a brain to sort out the armed forces properly. The question is…where are we going to find a brain ?
Daniele is retiring soon! 🙂
Okay…let’s give Daniele the job. Sounds good. Daniele for Defence !
crazy that the upgrade cost is nearly the price they originally bought them for 20 years ago
Inflation adjusted?
At any rate, the ‘V’ is a demon. General Dynamics by the wishes of the 70’s fighter Mafia really got it right with the F-16. Never looked back. A ‘V’ in the hands of an experienced pilot is a match for anything.
The latest F-16s are rated to 12,000 flight hours. The highest of any jet in service right now.
Agreed, quite competitive, especially when equipped w/ appropriate munitions.
You really have to wish these on the Russians flown by UAF pilots.
Similarities to the Poles, Czechs and Slovaks getting their hands on our fighters during the Battle of Britain… game changing pilots flying great kit.
As you say, just give them the best weapons and watch Russia suffer.
The only good Russian is a dead Russian.
I know Ukraine are looking at what upgrades are currently available off-the-shelf for their F16s. Primarily for replacing the radar, as the current APG-68(V2) fitted to the ex-Dutch/Norwegian/Belgium/Danish aircraft has a fairly short detection range against fighter sized targets. The obvious answer would be to upgrade it with the new Northrop Grumman APG-83 AESA fitted to the latest Block 70 Viper. However, as this radar is based on the F22’s APG-77 its very unlikely the US will agree a sale to Ukraine in case it falls in to Russian hands. There is possibly another option, which is Turkey’s Aselsan Murad AESA radar. Plus I believe it has now been flown on and tested on one of their development their F16s.
The current radar does not meet the maximum range requirements for the later AMRAAM version. Which puts the aircraft at a disadvantage when flying against some of the Russian aircraft, such as the Su-35.