In the mid 1980s, faced with an improving
Soviet threat, numerous European F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft were scheduled to go through a
Mid-Life Update (MLU) program. The MLU program was designed to bring the Block 15 aircraft
up to the standards of the Block 50/52 F-16C/D, in particular to give them the capability
of carrying and launching BVR weapons such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM, together with the
ability to carry out precision weapons delivery missions at night and in adverse weather.
The international MLU agreement was
signed on May 3, 1991, with the USA, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway all
being participants. The USA had originally planned to upgrade some of its F-16A/Bs as part
of the MLU program, but because of the end of the Cold War and the general reduction in
the US fighter force, it withdrew from the program in 1992, but agreed to continue to
support the MLU and to carry out test flying for development. The European MLU pact had to
be revised downward to reflect the new fiscal constraints arising from the end of the Cold
War.
General Dynamics (now Lockheed Fort
Worth) was awarded a contract to build the MLU kits. One F-16 from each of the USAF,
Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian air forces was delivered to Lockheed Forth Worth in September
1992 to act as a prototype for conversion under the MLU program.
The MLU aircraft are all re-equipped with
the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-66(V)2 radar. This more advanced unit has an improved
transmitter and low-power RF section, and a new signal data processor. The system has a
25-percent longer range, and can cary out multiple missile engagements. It is compatable
with BVR missiles such as SkyFlash, AIM-7 and MICA as well as the AMRAAM.
The three computers of the original F-16
(the fire-control computer, the stores management computer, and the HUD controller) are
replaced by a single Texas Instruments (now Raytheon) modular mission computer.
The gauge cockpit instruments are
replaced by electronic instruments using full-color LCD displays. The original HUD is
replaced by a wide-angle GEC-Marconi unit similar to that fitted to the Block 50/52
F-16C/D. The cockpit and display generator are compatible with night-vision goggles. The
cockpit and display generator also have provisions for helmet-mounted displays, but HMD
technology is not incorporated into the system itself.
The MLU carries the Hazeltine AXP-113(V)
IFF system, with a quadruple set of interrogator antenna mounted ahead of the windshield.
This system is not carried in USAF F-16Cs.
A fully-integrated Global Positioning
System (GPS) is installed, and a digital terrain system (DTS) is fitted. The DTS is built
into the OSC/Fairchild Defense Data Transfer Unit (DTU). The DTU allows the pilot to load
mission data into the system via a plug-in cartridge. The DTU cartridge has a processor
which incorporates a terrain profile matching algorithm. DTS determines the exact position
of the fighter by matching the changing radar altimeter readings to the terrain profiles
stored in the database. DTS provides terrain-following information to the HUD, and DTS
data provides the aircraft's pilot with a waring if the aircraft is in any danger of
striking an obstacle. GPS and INS provide two independent check on the health of the DTS.
The DTS also provides passive ranging to ground targets.
The MLU also provides chin pylons for
FLIR and targeting pods. The basic MLU does not provide an active onboard electronic
warfare system, but the Terma EW system can support active jamming and missile approach
warning systems.
The first MLU aircraft flew in April of
1995. By early 1998, conversions were being carried out in all four countries. Present
plans are for 48 Belgian, 61 Danish, 156 Dutch, and 56 Norwegian F-16A/Bs to go through
the MLU program. The program is scheduled to continue into 2003.
Sources:
- Combat Aircraft F-16, Doug Richardson,
Crescent, 1992.
- General Dynamics Aircraft and their
Predecessors, John Wegg, Naval Institute Press, 1990.
- The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and
Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.
- United States Military Aircraft Since
1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
- F-16 Fighting Falcon--A Major Review of
the West's Universal Warplane, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower Journal, Spring 1991.
- The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft,
Gallery, 1989.
- Modern Military Aircraft--F-16 Viper, Lou
Drendel, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.
- Lockheed F-16 Variants, Part 1, World
Airpower Journal, Volume 21, Summer 1995.
- Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 40 and Beyond,
Bill Sweetman, World AirPower Journal, Vol 36, Spring 1999
