An F-16 Fighting Falcon flown by Air Force Maj. Jacob Schonig from the 416th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., conducts a captive-carry flight test with a Gray Wolf cruise missile prototype over the Pacific Ocean, June 9, 2020. (U.S. Air Force Photo)
By Matthew Beinart |
@mbeinart22
1 year ago |
04/17/2023
highlights

The State Department has approved a $259 million deal with Turkey covering avionics upgrades for its current fleet of F-16 fighter jets.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on Monday of the new foreign military sale.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon flown by Air Force Maj. Jacob Schonig from the 416th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., conducts a captive-carry flight test with a Gray Wolf cruise missile prototype over the Pacific Ocean, June 9, 2020. (U.S. Air Force Photo)
An F-16 Fighting Falcon flown by Air Force Maj. Jacob Schonig from the 416th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., conducts a captive-carry flight test with a Gray Wolf cruise missile prototype over the Pacific Ocean, June 9, 2020. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

The new FMS case arrives as a separate $20 billion weapons deal with Turkey, that would include deliveries of new Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built F-16s, has stalled in Congress.

Lawmakers have previously pressed the Biden administration to detail concrete steps to ensure Turkey would not use the new F-16s for territorial overflights of Greece (Defense Daily, July 14 2022). 

“Türkiye is a longstanding and valued NATO Ally. The Biden Administration supports Türkiye’s efforts to bring the avionics of its F-16 fleet up to standard. This FMS case will enhance Türkiye’s interoperability with NATO by updating communications and also provide upgrades to enhance safety measures such as a ground collision avoidance system. This is an interoperability and basic safety-of-flight issue for both Türkiye and all allies and partners participating in joint missions with Türkiye,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said Monday of the new FMS case. 

The new F-16 upgrades in the new FMS case includes software upgrades “of the Operational Flight Program avionics with the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System capability” and hardware modifications to enable integration of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Block Upgrade II, to be procured separately, according to the State Department.