Lockheed Martin to upgrade avionics in South Korea F-16 jet fighter fleet in $1.2 billion contract
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 21 Nov. 2016. Military avionics experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will upgrade South Korea's 134 KF-16 jet fighter fleet under terms of a $1.2 billion U.S. Air Force contract announced late Friday.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, to upgrade South Korea's F-16 jet fighter fleet with new radar, armament, and integrated electronic systems.
The nine-year contract calls for Lockheed Martin to install the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 scalable agile beam radar with active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology aboard the Korean F-16s.
The Northrop Grumman Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) is a fire-control radar for next-generation weapons and tactics. It is designed to fit F-16 aircraft with no structural, power or cooling modifications.
In addition to the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 AESA radar, the Lockheed Martin avionics upgrades to the Korean F-16 jet fighters will include the Raytheon MMC 7000AH Modular Mission Computer for enhanced computing power to the aircraft's avionics and weapon systems.
Related: Raytheon to upgrade combat aircraft avionics by retrofitting F-16 center display units
Raytheon developed one high-performance computer system to replace the F-16's three original computers to improve situational awareness, air-to-air capabilities, targeting accuracy. The new computer will give Korean F-16 pilots access to helmet-mounted cueing systems, advanced weapons loads, reconnaissance pods, and forward-looking infrared targeting and navigation systems.
The new computer will enable two-level maintenance, and eliminate the need to remove and replace the entire computer, Raytheon officials say.
Lockheed Martin also will install the BAE Systems AN/APX-125 advanced identification friend or foe (AIFF) systems with Mode 5 interrogator and transponder capabilities, as well as other avionics enhancements.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Fort Worth, Texas, and should be finished by November 2025. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Aeronautics online at www.lockheedmartin.com/us/aeronautics.html, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at www.wpafb.af.mil/aflcmc, or the South Korea air force at www.airforce.mil.kr.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
