The world's most popular fighter is having a rebirth. The F-16 Fighting Falcon returned to production by Lockheed Martin and the first factory-new Block 70, a more modern version of the model, made its debut last Tuesday (24). 

The aircraft, a two-seat F-16D, took off at 09:17 am local time from Lockheed's plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Under the command of test pilots Dwayne “Pro” Opella and Monessa “Siren” Balzhiser, the aircraft remained in flight for 50 minutes, where the conditions of the engine, flight control and fuel system were checked, as well as basic handling of the aircraft. 

GV22-0020 F-16 Bahrain EB1 First Flight 20230125 V2 from LM Aero Multimedia on Vimeo.

"Today's successful flight is a testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment to our customers and their missions," said OJ Sanchez, vice president of the Integrated Fighter Group, which includes the F-16 program. “This milestone demonstrates Lockheed Martin's commitment to advancing this program and bringing this much-needed aircraft and its advanced 21st century security features to the warfighter.^"

The unprecedented flight also marked the first takeoff of an F-16 Block 70 for the Royal Bahrain Air Force (RBAF), launch customer of the model, also called the F-16V Viper. In 2018, the country signed with Lockheed the purchase of 16 Block 16 F-70s for US$ 1,1 billion; the RBAF already has another 21 F-16s of the Block 50/52 versions.

First Flight Alert! A new era of F-16 begins. Meet the Block 70 Fighting Falcon. 👋

Watch to learn more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/kQ093JElUF

- Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) January 24, 2023

In addition to Bahrain, five other nations selected the F-16 Block 70: Jordan, Taiwan, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Morocco. With the latest orders from Jordania e Bulgaria, who have signed letters for further orders, the backlog is expected to rise to 148 units. 

“Lockheed Martin is fully committed to providing quality platforms for our customers' mission critical operations and I am very proud of our talented team at Greenville”, said Danny Trent, vice president of the manufacturer for the F-16 and production line leader in Greenville.

"This is the culmination of significant advances in development, design, digital engineering, supply chain and production line to a proven platform that will continue to provide decades of service in support of customers' national security", concluded the executive. 

New life for the most used fighter in the world

The F-16 was born in the 1970s by General Dynamics, as a response to the Lightweight Fighter program of the US Air Force. The single-engine model won the bid and was soon acquired not only by the United States but also by several of its NATO partners, who sought to replace older jets, such as the F-104 and F-5. 

Over the years the F-16 has proven to be a versatile, reliable, cheap and easy to operate fighter, which has made it a more than popular model: today it is in operation with 25 countries and has accumulated over 19,5 million hours of flight and 13 million sorties. It is the most used fighter aircraft today, with 2184 units in operation, which represents 15% of all fighter jets in the world.

The aircraft received a series of upgrades until it reached its current Block 70 variant. The model incorporates technologies found in 5th generation fighters, such as the AESA AN/APG-83 radar and the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS). The model still has Datalink Link 16, new integrated GPS and updated friend-foe identification system (IFF).