The Polish Ministry of Defence’s signing of a $3.8 billion contract to modernise 48 F-16C/D Block 52+ fighters to the F-16V customary is predicted to revolutionise the fight capabilities of the Polish Air Drive, and has important geopolitical implications at a time of excessive tensions with neighbouring Russia. The procurement will deliver the fighters’ avionics as much as the same customary to the F-35A and South Korean FA-50 fighter plane which are at the moment on order. The F-16C/D is taken into account successfully out of date for top depth fight missions in the present day, primarily as a result of obsolescence of its avionics together with its reliance on a mechanically scanned array radar which is comparatively easy to jam and offers solely very restricted situational consciousness. The F-16V’s avionics intently based mostly on these from the newest F-16 Block 70/72 fighters, together with the identical AN/APG-83 lively electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
Alongside the U.S. Air Drive, the Republic of China Air Drive and Republic of Korea Air Drive have have been main purchasers for the F-16V improve bundle, whereas the Turkish Defence Ministry has sought to be granted permission to acquire the identical bundle for its personal F-16s. F-16s enhanced to such a regular are thought-about ‘4+ era’ fighters, and have capabilities to way more successfully complement the brand new F-35. Commenting on the choice to modernise the F-16s, Polish Defence Minster Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz noticed: “Over 20 years in the past, our predecessors made the selection of plane to switch the post-Soviet tools within the Polish Air Drive. We selected the F-16, and it was an excellent choice – a confirmed plane, a platform able to extraordinary fight operations… The present capabilities of the F-16 C/D model are good, however after 20 years, they’re inadequate to handle the threats. We have to enhance reconnaissance capabilities, communications, integration with the F-35 … in addition to the flexibility to function in any area.”
The modernisation of Poland’s F-16 fleet is a big improvement for neighbouring Russia and Belarus, because the Polish Air Drive had beforehand solely ordered a small fleet of 32 F-35A fighters, guaranteeing it solely had a restricted variety of plane able to posing a critical menace both to their air defence networks or in air-to-air engagements. The F-16C/D Block 52 was thought-about removed from able to going face to face with fighters such because the Su-30SM or of severely threatening networks of ground-based air defence methods such because the S-400. The F-16V, nonetheless, can doubtlessly pose a considerably larger problem significantly when working alongside the F-35A. This procurement will complement the very massive scale investments being made to modernise Poland’s floor forces into among the many most succesful in Europe, primarily via mass procurements of armour and artillery methods from South Korea, and to a lesser extent from the USA.
The F-16V suffers from quite a few important drawbacks in comparison with different lessons fielded by each NATO and Russia. Whereas missing the stealth or superior digital intelligence or sensor capabilities of the F-35A, it’s also extremely constrained in comparison with fighters such because the F-18E/F, F-15EX and Russian Su-30SM and Su-35, largely on account of its very small measurement which limits it to carrying a comparatively weak radar and small payloads of missiles and pods. The AN/APG-83 radar is below 1 / 4 the dimensions of these carried by the Su-30SM and Su-35 that type the spine of the Russian fleet. The F-16V can nonetheless partly compensate for this by receiving information picked up by the F-35’s extra highly effective sensor suite utilizing its Hyperlink 16 system, with the F-35’s significance as a pressure multiplier being significantly important. The fighter additionally has the potential to combine way more subtle air-to-air missile lessons such because the AIM-120D3 and AIM-260. Though the F-16V is considerably much less succesful than high performing Russian fighters such because the Su-35, MiG-31BM and Su-57, the improve program nonetheless significantly will increase strain on Russia’s Western borders from collective NATO air energy at a time when nations throughout the continent are quickly adopting the F-35 to boost their capabilities.
