The American company Lockheed Martin, probably stung by publications in the Indian press that its F-16 fighter "has no future", has published a response, which is quoted in the blog Livefist.com.
… Although the F-16IN Super Viper is exclusive to the Indian Air Force, it will be the starting point for future growth. The aircraft has a well-documented history of continuous evolution of its combat capabilities. This is very important as the F-16IN is designed for a long service life (over 6500 flight hours). During this time, the aircraft may receive new opportunities to expand the number of tasks it performs, increase its combat effectiveness and reduce operating costs. There are two main areas for further building up the capabilities of the F-16.
Technical progress. The F-16IN Super Viper is at the forefront of the latest fifth generation technologies, including active phased array radar, fiber optic data link, large-area tactical multi-function displays and the latest precision weapons. The Super Viper has plenty of room for upgrades due to the still unused airframe and the increased software capacity. The history of scientific and technological progress, especially digital technologies, shows that additional opportunities can be obtained even by reducing on-board systems and reducing energy consumption (for example, a modern mobile phone includes a web browser, games and videos, while being smaller than a simple phone for conversations). The F-16 has demonstrated this phenomenon many times in 7 major enhancements. The aircraft received five main versions of avionics, five versions of the airborne radar, 10 different types of electronic warfare systems, as well as dozens of new types of weapons without changing the design and dimensions of the aircraft. To take advantage of new technologies, the F-16IN Super has a flexible architecture to add new systems and capabilities. Leveraging commercial technology advances such as software and networking.
Improvement strategy. The United States Air Force, together with European F-16 operators, has been jointly pursuing long-term strategies for continuous aircraft modernization from the outset of the F-16 program, taking a phased approach to maintaining aircraft performance at the forefront of combat effectiveness. The US Air Force and European countries have F-16s that have been in operation for 30 years, but they are equipped with the new version of the F-16 Block 50. The software is updated every 18 months. This maintains a balance between the development of new capabilities and the time it takes to develop operational standards.
Thus, the growth potential of the F-16IN Super Viper is significantly greater than the availability of the used airframe volumes. The combination of the latest technology with a long-term modernization strategy will keep the F-16IN Super Viper at the cutting edge of the latest technology right up to its last day of operation.
