Lockheed Martin Aeronautics was awarded a U.S. government contract worth up to $1.85 billion Monday to perform major upgrades to Taiwan's fleet of 145 aging F-16 fighter jets.
The upgrades, which include a high-tech radar system similar to that being used in the still-under-development F-35, are designed to dramatically improve the combat capabilities of the older planes.The contract comes a little more than a year after the Obama administration, under pressure from China, denied Taiwan's request to purchase new F-16s from Lockheed but approved upgrades to Taiwan's existing fleet."We think this is fabulous news," Lockheed spokeswoman Laura Siebert said of the contract. Work on the project will begin immediately.In addition to the new radars, which are faster, more powerful and harder to detect, the upgrades include mission computers that analyze and present data to the pilot, other instrumentation upgrades and communication systems.The contract won't create any jobs in Fort Worth, but might preserve some positions at Lockheed. Siebert said about 200 people would work on the Taiwan contract, mostly engineers. The company recently merged its F-16 and F-22 Raptor work groups.All of the engineering work will be done in Fort Worth and a few jets will be worked on in Fort Worth initially. After that, upgrade kits will be delivered to Taiwan for installation by that country.The upgrades will bring the Taiwan aircraft close to the standard of the F-16V configuration that Lockheed announced this year as either an upgrade package or a new aircraft. The U.S. Air Force is planning to contract with Lockheed to upgrade 300 of its jets to the V version.Taiwan's government has said it still wants the U.S. to allow it to buy new F-16s. President Barack Obama has not ruled out a future sale of new jets to the island nation.Bob Cox, 817-390-7723Twitter: @bobcoxictHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
