Bahrain Buys 16 Latest F-16 Combat Aircraft

Bahrain is buying 16 latest variants of Lockheed Martin F-16 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCAs) as part of a $3.8 billion deal which also includes upgrade of the Royal Bahraini Air Force’s existing fleet of some 20-plus older F-16 jets.

- Sujay Mehdudia and Gulshan Luthra

MANAMA (BAHRAIN).

The Government-to-Government deal was announced October 17 on the second day of the three-day Bahrain International Defence Exhibition and Conference (BIDEC’17) by Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF) Commander Maj Gen Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. It includes an option for three more aircraft at the same price.

The new aircraft is designated F-16 Block 70, the same variant which is being offered to India for indigenous production under the Government's Make in India programme. Lockheed Martin has promised to shift its factory from Forth Worth in Texas to India if the Indian Air Force (IAF) selects it, and then make India the hub for its production and supply chain.

The aircraft for Bahrain are to be delivered from 2021 onwards, should be made in the US only, and will have the latest Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) combat radar, conformal fuel tanks for longer range, and some new sensors. It should also be capable of firing Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). Details have not been disclosed.

Every country decides its own requirements, but still, while there should be some differences in details regarding onboard sensors, the Block 70, being the latest variant will be mostly common to India, Bahrain and any other country which buys it in the coming years. It will be the most advanced version to date of the F-16, a 4th generation aircraft made for about 40 years but with everything new except its aerodynamic design and shell.