Jordan F 16 - New F-16s Strengthen Jordan's Air Force, But So What? With a planned budget increase over the next four years, Jordan has three main priority areas - but regional events can be reversed.
BEIRUT: As Jordan's leader publicly raised the idea of a Middle Eastern NATO-style alliance, his air force marked a significant upgrade by signing a letter of offer and acceptance of eight F-16 Block 70 jets from Lockheed Martin.
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The LOA was signed on June 17, with a Lockheed spokesperson telling Breaking Defense that deliveries are expected to begin in 2027.
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The US State Department has approved the sale of 16 F-16 fighter jets in February 2022 at an estimated cost of $4.21 billion, but the number has been halved in a letter of acceptance signed by Major General Yosef al-Hanati. of the Jordanian Armed Forces and Brig The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJF) is General Mohammed Hiassat.
"This is a function of the foreign military sales process. "We continue to work with the Jordanian and U.S. governments to finalize LOAs for an additional eight aircraft," a Lockheed spokesperson told Breaking Defense about the cuts.
In fact, the publicly announced dollar and amount figures for FMS cases often change when a final contract is negotiated. But Ryan Bohl, Middle East and North Africa analyst at Stratfor/RANE Networks, said budget constraints could be a factor in Jordan's reduced requests.
"Probably the cost is significant because Jordan is only buying eight; the Block 70 costs about $63 million per unit, and the eight aircraft already account for a quarter of its $2 billion 2019 defense budget," he told Breaking Defense.
Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series Ha3841 Lockheed F 16a Block 20 Mlu 87 0055 (155) Royal Jordanian Air Force, 2014
Bohl added that Jordan's economy and its national budget, which is trying to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, have limited its ability to make large purchases.
“Furthermore, the United States has not increased its foreign military aid to Jordan to help it buy more blocks; The United States is Jordan's largest military aid provider, and American aid currently focuses more on Jordan's economy than its air force and ability to defend itself against external threats, comparable to internal unrest. "Now Jordan," Bohl said.
The Royal Jordanian Air Force operates 43 F-16A and 18 F-16B Fighting Falcons, making the aircraft the backbone of Jordan's military fleet. With a total of 230 aircraft, the RJAF has a large fleet that includes Lockheed C-30 Hercules transport aircraft, Sikorsky UH-60, McDonnell Douglas MD500 Defender and Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters, Air Tractor AT-802 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan reconnaissance aircraft, and Pilots PC-21, Grobe G120TP and Robinson R44 trainers.
"Jordan's air force is relatively large when it comes to aging. It uses the F-16A as its primary fighter, which can carry out regional missions against terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in Syria. Jordan relies heavily on allies such as Saudi Arabia or the United States for refueling in the air and intelligence support for long-range missions However, Jordan is not currently involved in long-range military missions and appears to have ended its air campaign in Syria after the suppression of ISIS.
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Bahrain also signed a contract for Block 70 under a $1.12 billion contract for 16 aircraft; Flight testing for Bahrain is scheduled to begin in early 2023. After the contract expires, the new F-16s will be built in Greenville According to a Lockheed spokesman, the production rate in Greenville is four aircraft per month.
"F-16 Block 70/72 production rates will increase significantly in 2023 and deliveries to additional customers will continue through the mid-2020s," the spokesman said.
There are some signs that Jordan wants to expand its military ties with other powers in the region, which will require more investment in defense.
Jordan is believed to be bound by Israel's June 20 announcement of a regional integrated air defense network. Perhaps most notably, Jordan's King Abdullah II raised eyebrows with a statement on June 24 that he supports a Middle East military alliance similar to the Western-led NATO.
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Bohl said it would involve Jordan as it stands, but added that more political work needed to be done before a formal, NATO-style alliance could operate in the region. For example, Jordan does not want to drag out the war with Iran, and the EU, Jordan, Bahrain and Israel do not want to hang around and fight for Egypt's interests in Libya or in the future in Ethiopia. . "
By 2022, Jordan's defense budget is set at $1.9 billion, with 4% growth between 2023-2027, according to GlobalData Budget Analysis. According to Bohl, Aman has clear focus areas for where the government wants to spend that money.
"At least three main areas will be subject to growth: modernization of Jordan's air force, increased air defense capabilities (and the possible integration of such a system with US allies such as Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain) through the threat of Iran and increases in training, equipment and pay at home." "Focus on counterterrorism," Bohl said.
However, which of these three areas will grow the most will depend on regional developments: if a nuclear deal between the US and Iran is reached, air defense may deprioritize in favor of air force modernization; If there is a resurgence of terrorism, internal security will be the priority; If a fight between the US or Israel and Iran continues or escalates, air defense will emerge as a major driver of increased spending.
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One area that is seeing increased spending for the Air Force is with the purchase of the F-16 On February 11, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the State Department had approved the Foreign Military Sales case for the F-16 Air Combat Training Center (ACTC).
According to DSCA, ACTC includes full mission trainer, combat tactics trainer, director/operator station, tactical environment simulator, briefing/debris station, scenario generation center, database generation center, mission observation center and other training center equipment and support. announcement
There are connective tissues between gateways, 5G, edge computing and AI/ML that can be built to develop the advanced network capabilities required for JADC2.
The decision to buy more Black Hawks was particularly interesting as the country is in the midst of a defense strategic review that fully assesses force structure and spending decisions. The long-awaited order for the Lockheed-Martin F-16 Block 70 from the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) is finally here! The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced a possible order on February 3, 2022.
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If the order goes through, it will consist of twelve F-16C Block 70 and four twin-seat F-16D Block 70 Fighting Falcons. Foreign military sales (FMS) of aircraft and related equipment are valued at $4.21 billion.
The contract includes additional F100-GE-129D or F100-PW229EEP engines, AN/APG-83 Active Electronically Scan Array (AESA) Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), six AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP), i.a. a. another 16 low-volume terminals (for aircraft and ground stations) and various systems for weapons.
They will be equipped with AN/APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Scalable Agile Beam Radars (SABR) and will be capable of firing precision munitions such as the GBU-53 and GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Ammunition (JDAM). including Pavway II GBU-10 and Enhanced Pavway II (EP II) EGBU-49 In electronic warfare, they will be equipped, among other things, with AN/ALQ-254 Viper Shield or similar Integrated Electronic Warfare (EW) system and AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispenser System (CMDS).
The RJF currently operates former Belgian Luchtmacht (Belgium Air Component, Belgian Air Force) and Koninklijke Luchtmach (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) F-16AM/BM fighters and a small number of Shanti Falcon II aircraft, totaling 50 aircraft. About thirty are serviceable and make up Shaheed Muwafaq Al Salti AB (Al Azraq) as 1st Branch, 2nd Squadron and 6th Squadron.
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: Sixteen former USAF and Air National Guard F-16 ADF aircraft (just A and four B models) were taken from storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) at Davis Montton AFB and delivered between December 1997 and February 1998. Pakistan in 2014 (nine A and four B models).
: Seventeen former USAF and Air National Guard F-16 ADF aircraft (twelve A and five B models) were delivered in 2003. Subsequently, the MLU technical team from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and the RJAF jointly developed the MLU standard M3 . 2012
: Sixteen former Belgian Air Component MLU F-16 (twelve M and four BM models), delivered in 2009 with Mid-Life Update (MLU) Operational Flight Program (OFP) M2 standard.
: Nine former Belgian Air Component M2 MLU F-16s (six AM and three BM models), all delivered in July 2011.
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: Fifteen ex-KLu MLU F-16s (thirteen AM and two BM models), delivered in October.
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