Lockheed Martin has signed an agreement with Tata Advanced Systems Limited to manufacture the F-16 fighter plane in India, the companies announced Monday.

The deal was signed at the Paris Air Show, and is intended to make India the main service and manufacturing hub for the 3200 F-16s in service worldwide.

"Our partnership significantly strengthens the F-16 'Make in India' offer, creates and maintains numerous new job opportunities in India and the U.S., and brings the world's most combat-proven multi-role fighter aircraft to India."executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Orlando Carvalho said.

The deal comes as the Indian Air Force is holding a competition for the procurement of over 100 single-engine fighter planes. The F-16 has been competing against the Saab Gripen E fighter.

The deal would move Lockheed's sole F-16 production line from Ft. Worth, Texas to India, which would include manufacturing for export. It would also allow India to integrate its own sensors and weapons onto the the Block 70 jet.

The deal with Tata comes months after Lockheed announced it would move the F-16 production line to Greenville, S.C., to make way for production of the F-35 in Fort Worth.

The F-16 Block 70 is the most modern version of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, variants of which have been in service since 1978. The F-16 is a single-engine multi-role jet cabable of air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. It is in use by 26 countries, with over 4500 built.

The Block 70 has a upgraded AESA radar, improved data displays and connectivity, and an Automatic Ground Collision avoidance system to help prevent crashes.

King Aerospace receives EO-5 aircraft contract
Washington (UPI) Jun 19, 2017 - King Aerospace has received a $15 million contract modification for EO-5 Army reconnaissance aircraft logistical support.

The work will be conducted at Ft. Bliss, Texas, with an expected completion date of December 2017. Fiscal 2017 Army operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7 million were obligated upon the award.

The EO-5 is a de Havilland Canada DHC-7 regional turboprop airliner modified for military use. It is a signal intercept and sensor platform capable of monitoring all radio frequencies. Its high resolution infrared and optical sensors are capable of tracking ground targets and personnel, and are powerful enough to be able to track footprints in sand.

The EO-5 falls into the same Special Electronic Mission Aircraft category as the RC-12 and B-300 signals and reconnaissance planes. The signals intercepts gathered can be used for location and targeting purposes as well as more conventional intelligence operations. SEMA aircraft have seen extensive use in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other theatres.

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Rockwell Collins receives E-2D trainer contract
Washington (UPI) Jun 15, 2017
Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions has received a $34 million contract for the procurement of one E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Tactics Trainer. The trainer will support E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training Systems III program. The contract provides for aircraft-to-simulator concurrency updates, engineering changes and retrofitting for other Hawkeye training systems,and testing of t ... read more

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