First F-16 Sustainment Completed for USAF

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first F-16 jet back to the U.S. Air Force as part of the F-16 Sustainment Depot program.

Lockheed Martin was originally selected for the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 Sustainment Depot program in December 2020, and the first jet arrived in Greenville, South Carolina for work in spring 2021. The company provides full lifecycle support to the warfighter from development, production and sustainment to ensure mission readiness.

With more than 3,000 F-16s operating today in 25 countries – including 900 with the U.S. Air Force – Lockheed Martin is focused on helping its customers seamlessly and securely connect all assets in the joint battlespace. The F-16 has flown an estimated 19.5 million flight hours and more than 13 million sorties. The latest version, the Block 70/72, offers unparalleled capabilities and will be flown by at least five countries beginning in the mid-2020s.

“This was the first fighter sustainment work awarded to the site, and with F-16 production also well underway in Greenville, the site is now the global home of the F-16,” says Danya Trent, Lockheed Martin vice president, F-16 Program. 

Lockheed Martin is hiring for more than 300 new jobs by the end of 2022 to support both F-16 sustainment and production. These new roles represent Lockheed Martin’s long-standing commitment to meet its customers’ current and future needs, and to bring more jobs to the Greenville area.

Many of these positions are on the leading edge of Lockheed Martin’s digital engineering efforts – using advanced technologies and automation to reduce cost, decrease span time and improve product quality.