Lockheed Martin F-16V / Block 70/72 Viper
AESA radar, a new cockpit display and a 12,000-hour airframe — the F-16 for the 2020s · First flight 2015 (F-16V) · Block 70 from 2023
The F-16V 'Viper' standard centres on the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, an AESA set sharing hardware and software commonality with the F-22 and F-35 radars, plus a large Center Pedestal Display in the cockpit. An F-16 first flew with the APG-83 on 16 October 2015. The standard is offered both as new-build Block 70 (GE F110) and Block 72 (P&W F100) jets and as an upgrade for existing fleets.
New Block 70/72s are built at Lockheed Martin's Greenville, South Carolina, plant, to which F-16 production moved from Fort Worth. The first Greenville-built jet, a two-seat Block 70 for Bahrain, flew on 24 January 2023. The airframe is rated for 12,000 flight hours, more than 50% beyond earlier production F-16s. Slovakia's first two Block 70s arrived at Malacky on 22 July 2024; Bulgaria, Taiwan (66 aircraft) and Morocco are among other buyers.
As an upgrade, Taiwan converted its 141 F-16A/B Block 20 jets to the F-16V standard, Greece ordered upgrade kits for 84 aircraft, and South Korea is modernising its F-16C/D fleet.
