Lockheed Pipes In: F-16IN Has Great Growth Prospects


The American teens are working overtime to battle deep perceptions that their wares — the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-16IN Super Viper — are essentially old aircraft (i.e. not modern) with a few new systems bunged in, and are basically platforms in the twilight of their operational lives, being replaced as they are with new assets by US forces. Boeing tried dealing with that perception a few days ago when it revealed that India was being offered something called the International Roadmap as part of the MMRCA competition. Arch-rival Lockheed-Martin articulated something similar recently, which they sent over. Posting it in full:

While the Super Viper is a new design just for India, it is also the starting point for future growth. The F-16 has a well documented history of continuous evolution in capability. This is very important since the F-16IN is inherently designed for a long service life (in excess of 6500 flight hours). During this service life the desire will likely arise for significant upgradation to add capability for expanded mission roles, improved combat capability, and reduced operating costs. There are two primary enablers to this evolution: technology advancements and a proactive upgradation strategy.

Technology Advancements. The Super Viper is on the cutting edge of fighter aircraft technology with its 5th gen-based AESA radar, fiber optics data network, large flat panel color displays and the latest precision weapons. Starting now the Super Viper has inherent growth capacity due to ample unused space and large processing reserves. Nevertheless, emerging technologies will enable even greater capability. The history of technology advancement, especially for digital systems, shows that this added capability comes in increasingly smaller packages with lower power requirements. (Today’s mobile phone includes web browsing, games, and video in a smaller size than yesterday’s voice-only device.) The F-16 has demonstrated this many times across seven major block changes. This includes five generations of core avionics, five radar versions, ten different EW suites, and dozens of new weapons without changing the aircraft structure or size. To take advantage of these new technologies the Super Viper has a growth-oriented architecture for adding new systems and capabilities. Maximum use has been made of commercial standards and technology such as processing, software and networking.

Upgradation Strategy. The U.S. Air Force along with the European operators of the F-16 have been jointly executing a long term continuous upgradation strategy since the beginning of the F-16 program. As part of the overall sustainment philosophy, this strategy recognizes the need for continuous improvement and it defines a step-wise approach to keeping the F-16 on the forefront of war fighting capability. There are F-16s flying today in the U.S. and in Europe that are 30 years old but they have the same systems and capabilities as a new Block 50 F-16. At the heart of the strategy is a long term capability improvement roadmap which is synchronized with technology-driven improvements in weapons, sensors, displays, and computing. These key technology areas have their own improvement roadmaps which dovetail with the aircraft capability improvement roadmap. The roadmap is implemented through a series of software releases and hardware updates. For the U.S. and European Air Forces there is typically a major software release each 18 months. This allows for balance between rapid fielding of new capability and time required to assimilate the new capabilities into operational use. Major hardware updates are likewise spaced out to optimize fleet management while aircraft are being inducted into the modification program.

In summary, the growth potential for the Super Viper is much more than just the currently available spare capacity. Combining the latest technologies with a long term continuous upgradation strategy will keep the F-16IN relevant from the day it is first inducted until it is finally retired from service.

24 thoughts on “Lockheed Pipes In: F-16IN Has Great Growth Prospects”

  1. India don't go for vintage american teen series fighter! u shouldn't replace a 1960 fighter by a 1970 airframe whatever the avionics and weapons comes with it. Better go with european's bcoz they got modern airframe and avionics too. It's hard to believe usa will not put any future sanctions in case if their evil interest in asia is spoiled by any activities of the patriot Indians……

  2. This is a joke but i am not sure. They will offer more like this and our politicians and IAF??? will consider the offer. "While the Super Viper is a new design just for India",(so for the rest of the world its 30 year oldaged unwanted super viper America now into f35) o Indians please take this great old bird (old wine in new bottle)this will be helpful to you to super wipe your economy and security of your country,
    because you have to come to us for all the time for all the weapons, and up-gradation for Technology Advancements and we will give you a full ToT (screw driver technology) if you sign all the rules cismoa Etc, and we will not allow this F-16 to vipe against Pakistan or which ever country we like, rules and restriction only for your safety and for better communication,we are now giving the International Road map (as part of the MMRCA competition)so we can monitor you, this the the great opportunity to wipe your nation we will give you (politicians) special visa to America and lots of super viper poison to your citizens and many more which i cant tell as of now…………..

  3. Go to hell F-16, first we do not want an old plain (especially airframe). second it is American, who will not give full TOT and even America is going to replace its F-16 with F35. So LM do not try to dump your scrap in India.

  4. coolsky.. this competition no longer has anything to do with the aircraft, the company that makes it, or the country it comes from. it is all down to who pays the most bribe.

    If LM thinks the SV is a "new design" why arent they shoving up the USAF @ss? they are sellign the F35 to the US and selling us this junk.

    but the babus will not be interested in logical arguments, rather whatever fills the pockets the most.

  5. I dont understand why people hate f16 so much..90% posters have zero knowledge of what airframe means to an aircraft.. 1.) If we choose Rafale or EF what advance airframe(except the canards) are they proposing? both based on delta wing and both inspired by the M2ks..
    2.)Avionics:it is very clear that it is at par if not better than its western counterparts.
    3.) ToT i dont see this as a problem at all. If it ever was we would have silently gone to the french or the russians take whatever they offer and be happy without wasting our energies doing flight trials of six diff aircrafts..
    4.)f16SV vs f18SH: honestly speaking i feel that f18 is a naval plane best suited for naval role albeit multirole.. we have mki to fill the air dominance role and aussies and the rest are using them just cos they cannot buy SU30 and piss their dear unkil.. it does not in any sense mean that it is inferior to SU30 but we already have SU30 to play the same role..
    5.)o.m.g how can we buy f16s the pakis already have it : i say then why did we buy SU30 when the chinks got them a decade before we had them.. you may argue that we mkised it but so will be the f16..so please don give this shitty reason to not buy f16s. ITS ALWAYS THE MAN BEHND THE MACHINE
    6.)final comment: if we get this plane dirt cheap with ToT , fireworks and no strings attached then why but 200 buy 250 and see how paki-chinks wet their pants in front of mighty IAF.. and who wants these planes for next fifty years, use them for 25 years ( which i guess they wud survive without any major upgrades needed)and avoid creating flying coffins out of beautiful planes..

  6. if F-16 paki fighter is got selected I will stop thinking about Indian defence. I will loose total faith in the armed forces….

    The block 50/52 f-16 technologies will be transferred to the chinese by the pakis and they will develop counter measures for it. america already retiring f-16, so no problem for them.

  7. I like reading your website, but the black background colour hurts the eyes. Specially when switching to a different web page. Do you mind changing the background colour to some lighter shade?

  8. F-16IN is soaring at the heights of it vortex marketing spins.

    At this rate India could have earlier thought of upgrading 200 Mig-21s with the engines and radars of Mig-29 and then there was no need of any MMRCA.

  9. @Practical me said…
    1) Both Rafle and EF are based on delta wing and so we should not buy them, BTW what kind of wing structure is F-16 based on?? is it not old??
    2)The avionics in F-16 may be one of the best but what if US stops the supply of crucial parts when we want to go to war with pakis. and what if it contained some code in their software that can act as a kill switch(check the post made by shiv with regards to the clauses in the contract of US and INDIA on military supplies, which says that there could be one if there is then they wouild not be liable for having it in the software code). Do you want INDIA to take chances on that??
    3) ToT would not be a problem?? how is that? US is not even giving source code of JSF to its all time best friend UK. Do you expect that INDIA has better chances than UK with regards to ToT???
    4)I accept your point about F-18 being a naval plane.
    5) The point that pakis have it is just one way of saying we do not want this 70 year old miss universe.
    6) Survive 25 years with upgrades??? which world are you from?? INDIA is going ahead with Major upgrades for our best fighters, the Sukhoi 30's to change their electronics and engines(i am not sure about engines part) only after 10-12 years of flying.

  10. @ anon 1:29AM
    1) i never claimed that f16 has a completely new airframe in comparison to Rafale( and not rafle πŸ˜› )or EF. I only said these planes do not offer anything new wrt airframe.. and do you really want us to pay almost 100mil $ for something which has the airframe from the era of f16.. every aircraft gets evolved from its original DNA.. I wonder what if instead of rafale it was called Mirage 2010,am sure people would have said the same lame things like they say about f16.. f16 is a combat proven modern aircraft which has evolved over the years just like rafale or EF got evolved from the success of mirage m2ks. even the french AF trust their good old mirages over Rafale. just cos f16 does not have a new fancy name, it does not in any sense is an old tech (not old airfraime)

    2)there is nothing like kill switch that exists on any of the aircrafts on this planet.. period.. if you dont believe me do your research on internet u will get your answers.. Yes i agree with clauses part therefore in my final comment of my previous post i clearly mentioned 'no strings attached' and for the software thingy we use our own and for that matter we dont even trust the french or the russians

    3)will your favourite restaurant share its recipes with you so that u can make your favourite dishes at home.. is that possible? do you really think the russians or the french will ever give their recipe of making fighter aircrafts to us. NO. if that was the case they would helped us building our Tejas long time back.. be realistic my friend, military hardware is a big business.

    4)am glad you do sir

    5)unfortunately except f16 and to some extent f18 none of the remaining have an operational aesa radar.. which is a imp requirement in the mmrca deal.. so my dear friend rafale EF and MIG35 dont even qualify for the miss universe contest πŸ˜‰

    6) I guess you don understand english properly πŸ˜› yes the f 16 can survive for 25 years WITHOUT HAVING "MAJOR" UPGRADES.
    AND yes India is going ahead with major upgrades for our best fighters which have become very old and are crying out loud for MAJOR upgradation or see them going down the mig21 way.. and for your info they (mirage 2000, mig29, jaguar) have all survived for more than 25 years without MAJOR upgrades till now!
    and now i will clearify why we are upgrading sukhoi 30s cos the ones that are going for upgrades are the su 30ks and mks which had original russian avionics which the IAF was not happy about but had to accept them as china had already started inducting them on their forward bases near Indian border. and we are not changing their engines at all.. do your research properly!!

    my final thoughts are if we get this aircraft dirt cheap with the latest techs , ToT, NO STRINGS ATTACHED(clauses and all) , best fireworks then why buy 200 buy 250.
    Invest the hard earned forex reserve on future which is stealth technology and not rafale or EF which are not worth the dollar they demand.

  11. @Practical me
    you paki RAT. if you like F16 and american hardware so much, go live in paki land or in amerika.

    american hardware comes with millionsof strings attached. so even if F16 were the best, i wouldnt want india to go for it because obama can do whatever he wants.

    you paki scum is what is wrong with this country.

  12. The F16 is a very solid airframe and its pioneering unstable configuration has worked out very well for decades. Its load factor is outstanding and it hits the optimum from several directions. If we fight like the USAF does the F16 with its weapons capability and ESM/ECM can be an unbeatable medium aircraft, with the Su30 MKI providing the heavy role. The Hornet I am against as rememebr originally it was rejected by the USAF in favour of the F16 among them maintenance cost life cycle. The USN wanted a multirole F14 and A6 replacement and the F18 now fulfills all requirements out at sea – air dominance, defense, attack, EW, tanker etc. With the IAF it would be a fish out of water

  13. Hi, most of us hate F-16 for some obvious reasons. Mind you MOD has sent RFP to LM despite those obvious reasons why? Can we see any good in this process involving LM? Are we waiting for some cream offer like half F-16 and half F-35….will it happen? If it happens what happens to our most desired TOT….what will be the terms then? Can we bypass Russians in this 5th gen business at all? Why don’t we get ready made 5th gen fighter with same hard earned $$..??
    Mallik

  14. @ anon 3.36 pm

    i can do nothing but laugh at your naivety. You can call me whatever you want cos scums like you can only swear and blame others when you cant have intelligent reasoning.. neway koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota usse perfect banana padta hai.. Jai hind guys!! be independent, always!!

  15. @Practical me said..

    Kindly note except the airframe everything else including avionics is different in Insdian SU-30MKI and Chinese SU-30MKK

    Also when Ambassador were in the process of being phased out Hindustan Motors introduced Contessa and later Mitshubishi Lancer . Everyone knows whether Contessa or Lancer is better . The Americans want the production line to stay open and without this Indian Order it is not possible.

    President Obama wants Indian Software firms to pay for USA'S border fencing , in order to express our displeasure we should keep the vintage american aircrafts out of the race .

  16. @Practical me said…
    @ anon 1:29AM

    If there is no kill switch ( soft stop) why did the fighters of Iraqi Air force could not take off during the Gulf war.

    Who will guarantee against soft stops . Can India depend on the Americans regarding the same

  17. Anonymous said…
    @Practical me

    Let us respect the opinion of others and maintain basic decency and courtesy even if we disagree

  18. India should go for the F-18 aircraft. A partnership with the US will go a long way towards improving India's security. That is the absolute truth, and all of you know this inside the deepest recesses of your minds. Face the reality.

  19. @ Sudip Das

    Kindly read my post properly.. Ive not mentioned anything wrt su30mki vs su30mkk.they both are equally good and diff in their own ways.

    You cannot compare fighter aircraft with a car its absolutely absurd.. i dont care about what the Americans wish or want.. If you have read Shiv's post on IAF's field evaluation trails report submitted to MoD, the IAF clearly wishes the MoD to select a plane which meets its technical requirements based on its FET report and is the cheapest.. In this case only f16 jas39 and mig 35 would qualify.. 1)Mig 35: we are upgrading our mig 29 fleet and they will be as good as the current mig 35 which is still under development.We already have mig29 for the navy which as everyone knows is twin brother of mig35. plus i dont think its advisable to have too russian birds in our forces.The Russian friends should be happy as they have quite a few contracts worth many billion $$ in their kitty.. and also we are not seeing anything so advance from Russia that gives us a definite edge over our enemies.
    2)jas 39 a very potent bird. Mind you dont ever underestimate this bird but the problem is that its almost an American bird.we dont want third party issues in future maintenance.
    3)This leaves us with f16SV : if we get this bird dirt cheap with all the advance tech showcased and promised plus TOT plus advance armaments and most imp no strings attached. pakis will get sleepless nights if we get hold of this beautiful plane. It will feel similar to a person who looks very ugly but has a beautiful wife who stays all day at home, no bed room action(read@ base, they never fly their beloved f16s in fear of it getting older and worn out ;D)and suddenly a handsome looking neighbour with raging hormones moves in.That ugly bastard paki will all day keep wondering what all my wife must be doing with that handsome @ssh*le throughout the day πŸ˜€
    On a serious note if we get this plane at a good price ToT and no strings attached then its a steal. It will not only help us building our own future aircrafts but will help us gain some political leverage against US selling modern military equip to Pak.

    and my dear friend Sudip old airframe design does not mean vintage plane.. F22 program was started in the mid 80s based on f15 design does that mean its a vintage plane!!??

    Iraqi air force was a joke.. and they had no single American plane in their fleet ,all vintage migs which were not even properly maintained. toh kill switch ka savaal hi nahi attah πŸ™‚

    @sudip Das 1.10 am
    I always respect opinion of others and in none of my post ive lost my basic decency. Its only when am attacked i retaliate. Still u can read any of my posts,ive not degraded any posters inspite of some calling me a paki RAT. Neway such rants dont affect me and i dont need show or prove my loyalty towards my country to some who himself is anonymous.

  20. Why not fit A MiG-29 engine in a MiG-21 and upgrade it with an indigenous AESA Radar.It is cost saving and effective.I know a MiG-21 was indeed fitted with a 29 engine and it performed well.
    The MMRCA would cost us over 20 billion which includes extra jets and spare parts.Such a waste of money.
    Why don't we follow the Chinese practical way of reverse engineering?

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