SINGAPORE: The Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) F-16 fighter jets have been given an upgrade to enhance their capabilities and keep them operationally ready until the mid-2030s, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said on Sunday (Sep 24).
These enhanced capabilities include the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar which allows the F-16 to track and engage multiple targets from farther away, as well as an all-weather, ground-attack capability that enables it to strike targets with more capable precision munitions.
In 2019, Singapore first announced that it would buy four F-35B fighter jets for complete testing with the option for eight more. The F-35s will replace the RSAF’s ageing F-16 fleet, which entered service in 1998 and will be obsolete beyond 2030.
The F-16 upgrades started in 2016, with the enhancements taking place in phases in the years since.
Apart from the AESA, some of the latest upgrades for the F-16 fleet include a Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, where pilots will be equipped with a “first-look, first-shoot” high off-boresight capability. This enables the pilot to direct the weapons to the target simply by pointing his head towards it.
The system also presents the pilot with an overview of data including airspeed, altitude and target range, without the need to look into the cockpit during air combat.
The new upgrades will also equip the jets with modern air-to-air missiles such as the Python-5 missile, enabling it to engage a wide spectrum of air threats for enhanced lethality and survivability.
With its new Air-to-Ground munitions system, the F-16 jets can also strike targets with greater accuracy in both day and night conditions using munitions such as the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition.