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Lockheed prepares to add 8 aircraft to backorder By Molly Hulsey
L
mhulsey@scbiznews.com
ockheed Martin has not been hampered by the stalled orders affecting civilian aerospace markets if its Greenville F-16 production is any indicator. Sustainment work aside, the company’s Upstate facility will remain busy for a while. On June 17, the company announced an order of eight F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft bound for Jordan, bringing Lockheed Martin’s backorder of the jet to 136. The order isn’t Jordan’s first stock of F-16 jets. Lockheed Martin also doesn’t expect it to be the country’s last. The nation has been using the F-16 since the late 90s, but, according to Jennifer Edwards, Lockheed’s senior manager of communications, the current fleet of early model F-16 jets was procured through third-party transfers, not purchased directly from Lockheed Martin. The order of F-16 Block 70 aircraft will be the country’s first order of new F-16 jets. “This F-16 acquisition reflects over 70 years of U.S. cooperation and decades of partnership with Lockheed Martin,” Aimee Burnett, vice president of Lockheed’s integrated fighter group business development department, said in a news release. “Our history partnering with Jordan strengthens regional security and helps protect citizens through 21st century security technologies that support critical missions today and into the future.” Burnett met with Brigadier Gen. Mohammad Hiyasat of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, Major Gen. Yousef
Jordanian officials and Lockheed’s Aimee Burnett met to sign a letter of offer and acceptance. (Photo/Provided)
Al-Hnaity, chairman of Jordan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Jordan Armed Forces, and other Jordanian officials to sign a letter of offer and acceptance for the eight jets after the U.S. State Department approved up to 16 F-16 Block 70 aircraft for purchase by Jordanian allies in February. According to Edwards, the company is working with the U.S. and Jordanian governments to finalize a letter of offer and acceptance for a second order of eight jets. According to the U.S. State Department, the order will cost an expected $4.21 billion. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a Major Non-NATO Ally that is an important force for political stability and eco-
nomic progress in the Middle East,” the State Department said in the February announcement. “The proposed sale will improve Jordan’s capability to meet current and future threats by ensuring continued interoperability with U.S. and coalition forces. These aircraft will modernize the Jordanian fighter aircraft fleet and support operational requirements associated with regional U.S.-coalition goals, such as countering violent extremist organizations, countering malign state and non-state actors, and border defense. Jordan will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.” The total order consists of 12 oneseat “C” model and four two-seat “D” model aircraft, according to Edwards. In February, the U.S. State Department expected the sale would require
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around 20 U.S. contractor representatives to visit Jordan for 36 months to “support secure storage requirements of critically controlled assets and provide on-site contractor logistics support.” The company expects to fulfill the first order to Jordan in the mid- to late 2020s, as it plans to launch flight tests for the first F-16 Block 70 jet earmarked for Bahrain in early 2023. In past interviews, Lockheed Martin said it would be able to produce three aircraft a month after the two-year long process of blueprinting and carrying the production of the first F-16 made in Greenville. The facility’s manufacturing rate is expected to increase sharply in the next year, according to Edwards. The government contractor expects See AIRCRAFT, Page 16