F-16D Block 50+ For Turkish Air Force Unveiled

Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) has unveiled 1st F-16 D Block 50+ for the Turkish Air Force. Turkish Air Force has placed order for 30 F-16 Block 50+ which will be build in Turkey by the Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc at its facility near Ankara.

Ceremony was attended by the Turkish Defence Minister, Vecdi Gonul; Undersecretary for Defense Industries Murad Bayar; Turkish Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Abidin Ünal; General Manager of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation Lt. Gen. (Retired) Hayrettin Uzun; and the Chairman of the Board of TAI, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Mehmet Yalçin Kaya.

Executive vice president of Aeronautics for Lockheed Martin said that Lockheed is looking forward to continuing current relationships as a partner with Turkey in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

Turkish Air Force already operates over  200 F-16 fighter jets and will start receiving the 30 F-16 Block 50+ between May 2011 and December 2012. All the F-16 Block 30, Block 40 and Block 50 aircraft are receiving Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP) upgrade which will bring them to the level of latest Block 50+ aircrafts.

Turkish Air Force F-16D Block 50+ with CFT