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Two F-16 jets back in service after midlife upgrades
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An F-16 fighter jet makes a first test flight on Feb. 18, 2020 after undergoing upgrades at Iswahjudi Air Base in East Java. (Antara/Siswowidodo)
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wo of the Indonesian Air Force's F-16 fighter jets are now back in service after having undergone upgrades to their radar and weapon systems and structures to extend the service life of the 30-year-old aircraft.
The upgrades were part of the Structural Augmentation Roadmap (Falcon STAR) and enhanced midlife upgrade (eMLU) programs, supervised by US defense company Lockheed Martin, for F-16 fighters that have been in service since 1990.
Under the projects, Air Force technicians modified the F-16 structural frame to extend the service life of the aircraft, giving them an additional 8,000 hours of flight time, or equivalent to 20 years. It was complemented with the eMLU, which modernized the aircraft's avionics and enabled them to have beyond visual range (BVR) capabilities in launching missiles.
The upgrades, carried out at Iswahjudi Air Base in East Java and completed in February, were part of projects being carried out on 10 of the Air Force’s F-16 serving Iswahjudi's Squadron 3. Last week, the Air Force hosted a ceremony to mark the comeback of the two F-16s at the air base.
Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo said Falcon STAR was an example of a “hybrid case”, which combined direct commercial sales -- a government-to-business military equipment purchase -- between Indonesia and Lockheed Martin, as well as foreign military sales between the two governments.
Under the arrangement, the Air Force is responsible for both planning and handling the upgrades, while Lockheed Martin supervises the complex modification process by the Air Force's technicians.
“Through this arrangement, the Air Force gains the biggest advantage: we can improve our human resources, particularly the technicians, in carrying out heavy-duty tasks and even factory-level maintenance work,” Fadjar said during the ceremony.
