Lockheed Martin has announced senior Bahraini, U.S. government, military and aerospace industry officials are celebrating the delivery of the first Royal Bahraini Air Force F-16 Block 70. The event, which will take place on Friday, March 10, marks a major milestone for the F-16 Block 70 program, demonstrating Lockheed Martin’s commitment to advancing the program and getting this much-needed aircraft and its advanced 21st Century Security capabilities to the warfighter.
This F-16 Block 70 jet is the first of 16 jets for Bahrain. It took its first flight on Jan. 24, 2023. From here, it will begin additional flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base before arriving in Bahrain in 2024.
Six countries have selected Block 70/72 aircraft. In addition to the current official backlog of 127 jets to-date to be built in Greenville, Jordan has signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for 12 jets and Lockheed Martin has received a contract to begin its long-lead activities. Bulgaria has also signed an LOA for an additional eight jets for its fleet. Once these are finalized, the backlog will increase to 147.