The Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet remains in the limelight more than 40 years after its first flight. Shephard sums up the latest developments and details everything you need to know about the aircraft in 2026
Orders in the pipeline
New orders and deliveries continue for the aircraft, although with some setbacks. Taiwan’s order in 2023 for 66 F-16V fighter jets was originally set to see all aircraft arrive in-country this year, but deliveries have been delayed out to 2027, with the country’s defence ministry citing supply chain issues. Lockheed Martin stated it was committed to speeding up its F-16V production for Taiwan, as the country faces a rising military threat from China and heightened tensions in the South China Sea.
Elsewhere, Turkish interest in the F-16 remains stalled. In November 2024, the country’s defence minister Yaşar Güler said it would reduce the amount of the total package to US$7 billion, forgoing modernisation kits for its older F-16 models in favour of a domestically produced solution. Turkey’s renewed drive to lift the US’s F-35 sanctions and its recent acquisition of Eurofighter Typhoons came to the fore in 2025, raising the possibility that it could also use Qatari Eurofighters to replace its older F-16 fleet.
Over in Greece, the government approved a long-awaited upgrade of an additional 38 F-16 Block 50/52 aircraft to the F-16V Block 70 standard for the Hellenic air force. In mid-2025, half of its original 84-upgrade order was completed, with Lockheed delivering the 42nd F-16V to Greece. Forty-eight aircraft have so far been delivered to the Hellenic Air Force.
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