Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a contract modification, worth around $32,860,395 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification to previously-awarded contract for contractor logistics support to the Taiwan F-16 Peace Phoenix Rising program. This modification provides for contractor logistics support, repair and return and diminishing manufacturing source management services for Taiwan F-16s Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; and Taiwan, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2025. This modification involves 100% foreign military sales to Taiwan. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $25,001,279 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Under the Phoenix Rising program, Taiwan is upgrading its fleet of 144 Lockheed Martin F-16 A/B Block 20 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to the F-16V configuration. As part of the upgrade, the jets will be installed with Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, new mission computers, and more advanced avionics and electronic warfare suite. The upgraded jet will also have the capability to be armed with new precision-guided weapons. The total cost of the program is estimated to be around $5.3 billion. The upgrades are being conducted by the Taiwanese state-owned aviation company, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC). The first upgraded jet was delivered to ROC Air Force in 2018 and the project is expected to be completed by 2023.
In August last year, the U.S. State Department approved the FMS sale of 66 F-16C/D Block 70 fighter aircraft, along with related equipment and support, to Taiwan for an estimated cost of $8 billion. The F-16 Block 70 features advanced avionics, an AN/APG-83 SABR AESA radar, a modernized cockpit, advanced weapons, conformal fuel tanks (CFT), an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS), an advanced engine and an industry-leading extended structural service life of 12,000 hours.
