Lockheed Martin to support 50 retrofit aircraft to Taiwan F-16 Peace Phoenix Rising program

Aviation Defense News November 2020 aerospace air force industry
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On November 16, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $53,190,386 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification to contract FA8615-12-C-6016 for miscellaneous support for 50 retrofit aircraft to the Taiwan F-16 Peace Phoenix Rising program.

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Lockheed Martin to support 50 retrofit aircraft to Taiwan F 16 Peace Phoenix Rising program 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 (Picture source: ROC Air Force)

This modification provides for contractor over and above support and acquisition of legacy aircraft hardware and equipment. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; and Taiwan, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2023. Foreign Military Sales funds in the full amount 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.

The program, codenamed Phoenix Rising Project, was launched in 2016 with the purpose of upgrading 144 ROCAF F-16A/B Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to the F-16V configuration by 2023. Approximately 25 to 28 aircraft are expected to undergo modernization each year until 2023.

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.