F-16 gets super cruise capability

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As the deadline for India's biggest ever defence deal for purchase of 126 new fighter planes nears, US aviation giant Lockheed Martin on Wednesday unveiled a new upgraded version of its F-16 fighter planes with 'super cruise' capability and Active Electronic Scanned Array (AESA) radars.

So far, the 'super cruise' capability is only seen in 5th generation fighters F-22 Raptors and it’s just unrolling F-35 joint strike fighters.

This capability would impart the fighter with extended range, as it can zoom from take-off to breaking the sound barrier without the use of fuel guzzling after-burners.

The export version of the fighters, for the first time, has also been equipped with AESA radars, as reportedly specified in the Indian Air Force's USD 10-billion tender for the acquisition of 126 fighters.

Top company official Chuck Artymovich told a group of Indian newsmen that the AESA radar, which gives the capability to simultaneously track and destroy ground and air threats, has been cleared by the US government for installation in 80 F-16s ordered by the United Arab Emirates.

"We are confident that similar green signal would be given for installation of such radars in the case of export to India also," he said.

Speaking while unveiling an India-specific Fighting Falcons (F-16 IN), the Lockheed Martin executive said that the proposed fighter planes would also be armed with infra-red search and track pods as well as, counter-electronic warfare pods.

"The F-16 IN is a complete new aircraft and totally caters to India's requirements and there could be no comparison with Block 50 and 60 fighters, being made for other countries," he said.

The US company officials said that there were fair chances of India increasing its fighter intake by 50 more planes. Artymovich's comment assumes significance, as the international tenders for the deal are expected to be opened on March 2.

Besides the F-16, other major contenders for the contract include Boeing's F-18, Eurofighter, Gripen of Sweden, Rafale of France and Russia's MIG 35.

At the ceremony, Lockheed Martin executives said they had met all requirements proposed in the Indian Request For Proposals (RFP) without giving out any details of the contents, citing confidentiality.

They said that the company was prepared to meet the RFP requirements of offsets, and would do so in the field of aeronautics or for co-development of an Indian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).