The US Air Force is considering buying newly built F-16s for the first time in more than two decades as it examines options to increase the size of its fighter force.
The potential aircraft, which could receive the designation “F-16G,” would be more advanced than the Block 70/72 version currently produced by Lockheed Martin for export customers, according to a report by Air & Space Forces Magazine citing multiple people familiar with the matter.
Discussions are taking place as the USAF begins work on its fiscal 2028 budget and the accompanying five-year Future Years Defense Program. The service has not confirmed plans to purchase the aircraft.
In a statement to the publication, the Air Force said it was still early in the process of assessing options for the next FYDP and had not yet determined specific requirements or the range of potential solutions.
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One possibility cited in the report would be to equip the aircraft with the AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS). The system is already being introduced on existing USAF F-16s and provides an integrated electronic warfare capability designed to work alongside the fighter's radar.
The concept would therefore not necessarily amount to a US purchase of the current export Block 70/72. Instead, a new configuration could use the latest production F-16 as its starting point while incorporating equipment selected specifically for the Air Force.
USAF received its last new F-16 in 2005
A new order would reverse a procurement decision dating back more than two decades. The Air Force received its final newly built F-16 on March 18, 2005, ending deliveries after 2,231 aircraft had been produced for the service.
Production nevertheless continued for foreign customers. Lockheed Martin eventually moved F-16 manufacturing from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina, as the former plant became increasingly focused on the F-35 program.
The Greenville production line opened in 2019 and gave the F-16 a new industrial base centered on the Block 70/72, the latest production version of a fighter that first flew more than 50 years ago.
The first Block 70 built at Greenville made its maiden flight in January 2023. Unlike earlier production phases dominated by the US military, the current line has been sustained entirely by international customers.
Demand has provided the program with a substantial backlog. Lockheed Martin said in February 2026 that 37 Block 70/72 aircraft had been delivered and another 111 remained on order for international customers.
The latest version incorporates the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 AESA radar, an upgraded mission computer and cockpit, and a structural service life of 12,000 flight hours. The Block 70 uses the General Electric F110 engine, while the otherwise similar Block 72 is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100.
Export demand kept F-16 production alive
The continued availability of a modern F-16 gives the Air Force an option that did not appear particularly likely when its own procurement ended in 2005. Rather than restarting a dormant production line, the service could potentially join an existing manufacturing program with an established international order book.
Lockheed Martin has continued investing in Greenville as it works through orders from countries including Bahrain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Taiwan and Jordan. The Block 70/72 has also competed for additional fighter requirements as governments seek alternatives to more expensive or less readily available aircraft.
A potential US order would come as the Air Force faces the simultaneous task of retiring aging fighters and introducing F-35As and F-15EXs. The service still operates hundreds of older F-16C/Ds, many delivered during the 1980s and 1990s.
