Jordan has officially signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for the sale of eight new production F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft.
“This F-16 acquisition reflects over 70 years of U.S. cooperation and decades of partnership with Lockheed Martin,” says Aimee Burnett, vice president, Integrated Fighter Group Business Development. “Our history partnering with Jordan strengthens regional security and helps protect citizens through 21st Century Security technologies that support critical missions today and into the future.”
The selection of the new production F-16 aircraft expands Jordan’s current F-16 fleet (more than 60 F-16 A/B MLU), bringing advanced capabilities to the mission combined with affordable operational and life-cycle costs.
As we reported in February this year, the U.S. Government had authorized the sale of the F-16 Block 70s to Jordan, along with an armament package, consisting basically of guided bombs.
The value of this potential deal was USD 4.21 billion, but the offer was for 16 aircraft, 12 single-seat F-16Cs and 4 two-seat F-16Ds. The purchase cost of these eight aircraft for Jordan and the composition and characteristics of their associated logistics and armament package have not yet been revealed, but it would not be unreasonable to think of a value of around USD 2.1 billion for the operation.
See also: USA authorized possible sale of F-16C/D Block 70 to Jordan
According to the company, Jordan’s new F-16s will be built in Greenville, South Carolina, where Lockheed Martin has centralized its production of this fighter model.
