The famous fighter has been in deployment for more than four decades.
The world’s most successful 4th-gen fighter jet
F-16s remain popular in Eastern Europe, where Romania is receiving retired Norwegian F-16s (and planning to purchase F-35 fighters), Greece and Turkey are purchasing new F-16 Block 70s, and Ukraine is receiving hand-me-down F-16s from Western European air forces. Romania retired its old MiG-21 LanceR fighters in 2023.
The F-16 will be a major improvement for the Bulgarian Air Force over the 13 MiG-29 “Fulcrum” multirole fighter jets it currently has in service. The Bulgarian Air Force also has seven Su-25 “Frogfoot” ground attack aircraft (some of its former fleet of Su-25 may have been shipped to Ukraine through intermediaries). Bulgaria retired the last of its obsolete MiG-21 “Fishbed” fighter jets in 2015.
Photo: BlueBarronPhoto | Shutterstock
The F-16 remains the most produced 4th-generation fighter jet and the most numerous fighter jet flying in the world today. It is currently operated by 27 countries (with over 700 examples in the United States Air Force), including six countries that have ordered the F-16 Block 70/72. It seems that there is demand for hundreds of more F-16 fighter jets and production is likely to continue into the early 2030s.
Additionally, Lockheed has offered India the F-21 – an F-16 ‘on steroids’ – although it is unclear if India will purchase the jet.
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Publish date : 2024-10-25 02:07:00
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