Continued F-16 Production and orders!

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From AF Daily Report 25 Mar 08

USAF Deepens Ties with Morocco: The US Air Force and Royal Moroccan Air Force have expanded their bilateral relationship with the RMAF's purchase of 24 new F-16 Block 52 aircraft, along with training, and support equipment, according to USAF officials. The Pentagon notified Congress of the pending sale Dec. 18, 2007. USAF said that RMAF agreed to the transaction March 12 and expects the RMAF to begin operations with its new F-16s in mid-2011. Under the terms of the deal, a USAF instructor pilot will train RMAF fliers in Morocco. Lockheed Martin officials last fall said they believe the F-16 production line would continue for some time, even as the F-35 production ramps up at the company's Fort Worth production facility, because of continuing international orders.(See below for international orders item.)

Never-Ending Viper Line?: Even with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter low looming large on the horizon, a senior Lockheed Martin official said on Wednesday that he still anticipates the company will receive international orders for perhaps 80 to 100 additional F-16s before everything is said and done for the Viper line in Fort Worth, Tex. These are in addition to all existing F-16 orders. Part of the reason for confidence, Rob Weiss, corporate VP for business development, told reporters at AFA’s Air & Space Conference is that the F-16 keeps getting repeat buyers—14 of 24 purchasers already have come back for more. These include Greece, Israel, and Turkey. Weiss said the assembly plant will have no trouble accommodating additional F-16s even when F-35 production—at the same site—begins to speed up.