Turkish defense manufacturers sign $2 billion deals to upgrade F-16 jets

Asia-Pacific, Europe, News July 21, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkey’s largest defense companies, Turkish Aerospace Industries and Aselsan, signed two contracts worth $2 billion to upgrade the country’s F-16 fighter jets. This includes upgrading the jets’ electronic radars and avionic suites.

The upgrade program will reportedly include a new mission computer and avionic suites for approximately 150 Turkish F-16 aircraft. The program will also include new cockpit color displays, a new indigenously produced friend or foe identification system, a new system interface unit, a hydraulic fuel gauge, new radar warning receivers, and an inertial navigation system.

Turkish defense officials said that the upgrades would be made to the aging F-16 Block 30 fighter jets. Block 30 is the only F-16 model whose source codes are available to Turkey.

Under the new deal, Aselsan would also produce Turkey’s first active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which would extend the total flight time for F-16 aircraft by 12,000 hours.

The locally built AESA radar will be tested on the Turkish Akinci drone and then on a batch of 36 F-16 Block 30 jets before being added to the whole fleet. Aselsan also plans to use the AESA radar technology for the TF-X aircraft, Turkey’s first indigenous fighter jet in development.

Aselsan is the biggest defense company in Turkey and ranked 56th in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) 2021 list of the world’s top 100 defense companies. Turkish Aerospace (TUSAS) was the second company from Turkiye on the SIPRI list.

Aselsan is involved in avionics and weapon systems integration activities for aircraft. According to the defense firm’s annual report for 2022, Aselsan signed a mass manufacturing contract with TUSAS under the ÖZGÜR Project to modernize the Block-30 version of the F-16 aircraft. The first deliveries were completed swiftly.

Turkey’s F-16 Fighter Jets

Turkey operates a fleet of 270 F-16 fighter jets which is the backbone of the Turkish Air Force. Ankara has been seeking to finalize a $20 billion deal to purchase modernization kits for its existing fleet as well as 40 new F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the U.S.

Although the Biden administration has backed Turkey’s bid to buy new jets and kits, the U.S. Congress members and especially Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez blocked Ankara’s procurement plans citing Turkey’s opposition over Sweden’s NATO membership, its human rights records, and growing tensions with Greece.

Following Turkey’s agreement to ratify Sweden’s admission into the NATO alliance, the U.S. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Turkey’s $20 billion potential sale would proceed. But Sen. Bob Menendez continues to use his position as Foreign Relations Committee chairman to block the sale.

*^{Turkish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off on a sortie from an air base during Exercise Anatolian Eagle, in Konya, Turkey. (Image Credit: Turkish Ministry of Defense/DailySabah)}*

While speaking to media reporters on the issue, Menendez said that “I’ve always said that the ratification of Sweden, which should naturally occur, is not the sine qua non of why I would lift the hold on F-16s.” He added that “There are bigger issues than just that alone.”

The U.S. State Department has held conversations with Menendez on his stance against Turkey’s F-16 deal. Despite his opposition to the F-16 sale, Menendez in April permitted a $259 million sale of avionics software upgrades for Turkey’s current F-16.