Turkey upgrades first F-16 fighter to Block 70/72 Viper without US involvement

Turkey has decided not to wait for U.S. supplies to upgrade its F-16s and has begun upgrading the fighters in-house. The head of defence industry, Ismail Demir, said the first aircraft had undergone the upgrade.

Here's What We Know

The Turkish upgrade program is called ÖZGÜR. After the upgrade, the F-16 fighter corresponds to the Block 70/72 Viper level. The aircraft can carry two dozen Turkish-made missiles, including Merlin and Peregrin, which are replacements for the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

Turkey has upgraded its F-16 Block 30 fighter jet. Block 40 and Block 50 standard aircraft will also be upgraded in the future. In total, more than 200 fighters are to be upgraded.

One of the key components of the ÖZGÜR is a new active phased array radar. It has been developed by Aselsan. The radar contains gallium nitride-based modules and is capable of tracking targets in the air, on land and at sea.

In addition, the F-16 ÖZGÜR has received a new digital cockpit. It enables additional mission information to be displayed on the pilot's helmet in augmented reality mode.

One of the most important components of the Block 70/72 upgrade is the Link 16 communications system. It allows the F-16 to exchange data with fifth-generation fighters and Patriot surface-to-air missiles, as well as to recognise aircraft in 'friend-or-foe' mode. The ÖZGÜR programme envisages the installation of the Turkish equivalent of Link 16, but no details on this have been released so far.

Source: SavunmSsanayiST