BAE Systems and Greece are discussing upgrading three different configurations of the Mediterranean nation’s fighter jet fleet, including F-16s, with potentially 90-140 jets that could receive work, according to a company executive.
BAE Systems Vice President and General Manager for Global Fighter Jet Programs John Bean told Defense Daily
Friday the company received a request for information (RFI) from Greece and has had a company team there briefing them on BAE’s capabilities. The company is beginning a major F-16 upgrade program for South Korea, with the first two of 134 jets to be upgraded recently arriving at BAE’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility, according to a company statement.
The work is part of a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program for South Korea’s fleet of F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft, where the jets will be equipped with advanced weapons and next-generation avionics, including advanced missions computers, new cockpit displays and advanced radars and targeting sensors. BAE is performing Phase One of the KF-16 upgrade program, which also includes associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support. Phase Two will begin this year and will fund completion of the systems integration and flight test activities, followed by production and installation of the upgrades.
Company spokesman Neil Franz said Friday the full value of the program will not be confirmed until Phase Two is finalized, but BAE estimates the program will be worth about $1.3 billion. BAE said the South Korea upgrades are significant as it is the first time a non-original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is performing a major upgrade for a fourth-generation fighter jet. The F-16 is manufactured by Lockheed Martin [LMT].
Bean said BAE has accepted two KF-16s, one C and one D model, at its Texas modification facility for use as “installation kits,” or design models, for the upgrades that will go on the 132 other South Korean F-16s. The company will use the installation kits to test upgrades the company will make like harnesses, racks, power conversions and cooling changes, Bean said. It will take BAE about 18 months, Bean said, to complete the installation kits on the initial pair of KF-16s.
Bean said once BAE completes flight tests of the installation kit jets and is ready to proceed with the 132 remaining jets, each aircraft will take about two to 2.5 months to upgrade. The remaining aircraft to be upgraded will be worked on in South Korea, Bean said, and BAE will select next year a partner facility there for the work. BAE is due to start upgrades around 2018 and to have those upgrades complete by 2022, Bean said.
While BAE is the prime contractor for overall South Korean KF-16C/D Block 52 upgrades, Raytheon [RTN] is a partner. South Korea selected Raytheon in 2013 as part of a separate competition to upgrade its radars. BAE is in charge of systems integration and radars are part of the overall upgrade (Defense Daily; April 11, 2013).
BAE is also in discussions with Singapore and Turkey regarding F-16 upgrades, Bean said. Singapore has been working with the U.S. Air Force for some time with hopes of upgrading its fleet, Bean said, but the country decided to slow things down once it saw South Korea’s competition and the opportunity for potentially better value. Bean said though BAE has been in the advanced systems business for decades, it is focusing on F-16 upgrades because that is the company’s strongest competence and the strongest market need.