The UAE is expanding its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16E/F Desert Falcons through the acquisition of 30 new Block 61 F-16E/F aircraft. The 79 surviving Block 60 F-16E/F Desert Falcons will be upgraded to a similar ‘Block 60+’ standard.
Lockheed Martin has thus far refused to comment on the Block 61 and Block 60+ configurations, but the new-build Block 61 is believed to be an evolutionary upgrade of the original Block 60, with diminishing manufacturing sources and obsolescence issues addressed, and some interoperability enhancements.
Block 61 aircraft are being purchased via a direct commercial sale, rather than using the more usual foreign military sale (FMS) process, so there was no requirement for the usual Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification of the aircraft sale to Congress, though Congress was notified of an associated FMS sale of training, logistics support and support equipment, weapons and other items to the UAE, on 23 January 2014.
Entering front-line service in 2005, the Block 60 F-16E/F has been called “the most advanced F-16 variant in the world”, and is described as being “a half-generation ahead of the F-16 C/D Block 50/52+ aircraft that form the backbone of the US Air Force.”
The aircraft is fitted with a Northrop Grumman AN/APG-80 AESA (active electronically scanned antenna) radar, which made it the first F-16 variant to be fitted with an AESA array, and is still the only in-service F-16 version with an ‘e-scan’ radar.
The introduction of the Block 60 F-16 made the UAE AF&AD the first fighter force outside the USA to field this revolutionary radar technology.
The Block 60 also has provision for the conformal fuel tanks associated with later Block 50/52 aircraft, giving it a mission radius of 1,650km – a 40 per cent increase compared with non-CFT-equipped F-16 variants.
While the USA does not normally export the vital software source codes required to program the electronic warfare and radar systems on US-built fighters, in the case of the Block 60 F-16, the USA provided “object codes”, which allow new mission data to be added to the F-16E/F’s threat library autonomously.
This has allowed the UAE to refine and improve the Block 60 aircraft exponentially, and to keep it abreast of developing threats. Lockheed did integrate the UAE’s MBDA Al Hakim rocketboosted glide bomb on the F-16E/F, but the US State Department refused to allow integration of the MBDA Black Shaheen cruise missile (a derivative of the Storm Shadow used on UAE Mirage 2000s). This 51 was because the Black Shaheen was assumed to have a range of more than 300km, which is the current range limit for cruise missiles under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Instead, the USA is providing AGM-84 SLAM-ER missiles and the AGM-154C Joint Stand Off Weapon.
所以美軍火商要中途加價是預料之中,之後還陸續有來,台方不能不付。 作者: 陳立軒君 時間: 2016-12-3 09:25 AM
我們當初買得是非常早期型的F-16,當然須要透過升級啊!當年老布希願意賣我們還不是看再法國人要賣我們幻象戰機的時候,與其錢背其他人貪污,還不如增強我國戰力作者: qqrr21509 時間: 2016-12-3 10:24 AM
川普總統上台對於美國軍火商應該是利多,只希望台灣購買軍武時別忘提升自家實力才好.作者: CWZ 時間: 2016-12-3 10:54 AM
本帖最後由 CWZ 於 2016-12-3 10:56 AM 編輯
tim99 發表於 2016-12-3 01:58 AM
因為擔心被美國封鎖出賣,所以設計目的就要求極高的自製率,甚至可以全自製,但中科院全自製的F125,據說壽命只有1500小時
一堆廢話的啦
The International Turbine Engine Company LLC (ITEC, formerly the International Turbine Engine Corporation) is a joint venture between Honeywell Aerospace (formerly Garrett AiResearch, and later AlliedSignal), and the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC). The company produces the F124/F125 turbofan engine series, which is used in the Aermacchi M-346, Aero L-159 Alca, and AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo.
F125 後燃渦輪扇發動機非中科院製造
若漢翔航空工業股份有限公司 (AIDC) 能 100% 自製壽命可達 1,500 小時的 F125
那太陽就從西方出來的啦