Oman Takes Delivery First Advanced Block 50 F-16

Released on Thursday, August 04, 2005

Lockheed Martin held ceremonies at its Fort Worth, Texas, facility today to celebrate the delivery of the first F-16 aircraft to the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO).

Air Vice Marshal Yahya Al-Juma, commander of the RAFO, accepted the aircraft on behalf of his nation. Also present were Mohammed Al-Khusaiby, ambassador of Oman to the United States, and other senior officials from the Oman Ministry of Defense and Royal Air Force.

In May 2002, the Sultanate of Oman signed an agreement with the US government to purchase 12 Advanced Block 50 F-16s in the Peace A'sama A'safiya (Clear Skies) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The agreement includes eight single-seat F-16Cs and four two-seat F-16Ds, powered by the General Electric F110-GE-129 engine.

The first Oman F-16 is a two-seat F-16D model and was accepted by the US government (as agent for Oman in the FMS process) on July 19, one month ahead of schedule. The first single-seat F-16C version will fly in August and be accepted in September. These two aircraft will be ferried to Oman in mid-October to support the 35th National Day celebrations on November 18. The remainder of the aircraft will be ferried to Oman during 2006.