Pentagon refuses to purchase any of the F-16s in their most recent iteration
On November 22 the first F-16 Block 70/72 was unveiled by its manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defence industrial firm, which has for decades held a duopoly on the American fighter market alongside Boeing which produces the F-15 and F-18. F-16 Block 70/72 The aircraft is a notable improvement over prior F-16 variants, and benefits from integration of the APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, new cockpit displays, and compatibility with a range of new weapons such as the AIM-120D air to air missile. Key to making the program viable was a large $8.2 order for 66 aircraft placed for the Republic of China (ROC) Air Force, which although not representing the air arm of a UN member state was assent to by the Donald Trump administration at a time of high tensions with the Chinese mainland (People’s Republic of China). The two rival Chinese governments remain technically at war, with rapid advances fuelling ROC interest in higher end American fighte...