F-16V foreign military sale totaling $3.86 billion approved to Bahrain
NewsSeptember 12, 2017
WASHINGTON. The U.S. State Department has approved a request from Bahrain to procure 22 new Lockheed Martin F-16V Fighting Falcons and to upgrade its existing fleet of 20 similar aircraft, in two separate deals valued at a combined $3.86 billion.
Under the terms of the procurement contract, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) agreed that Bahrain may buy $2.78 billion for 22 new F-16V-standard fighters; this portion of the proposed agreement will include ancillary equipment, training, and support.
The other part of the contract, which accounts for $1.08 billion to modernize and upgrade Bahrain's fleet of 20 F-6C/D Block 40 aircraft to the same F-16V configuration as the new orders, features options for a simulator, ancillary equipment, training, support, targeting pods, and limited quantities of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons.
The Lockheed Martin-built F-16V features the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar (derived from the F-16E/F Block 60 AN/APG-80 and also known as the Scalable Agile Beam Radar [SABR]), a new Raytheon mission computer, the Link 16 datalink, modern cockpit displays, an enhanced electronic warfare system, and a ground-collision avoidance system.
