Lockheed Martin Corp. completed a new production line for F-16 fighter jets in Greenville, S.C. Tooling and equipment previously installed in Fort Worth, Tex., has been relocated and installed in a refurbished hangar at Greenville, where manufacturing for F-16 Block 70 aircraft will begin later this year.
The F-16 Falcon is a single-engine, supersonic fighter jet developed by General Dynamics and now manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It’s a multirole fighter aircraft, and according to Lockheed there are approximately 3,000 operational F-16s in service today with 25 countries.
The fighters have been in production for over 40 years, totaling 4,588 aircraft. According to Lockheed the coming round of production will establish over 400 new jobs in Greenville, in addition to the positions involved for Lockheed Martin engineering, procurement, sustainment, and customer support functions, as well as more than 400 businesses that are F-16 program suppliers.
In addition to the U.S. Air Force, Block 70 is expected to include new production F-16s for Bahrain, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.