In the mid 1980s, faced with an improving Soviet threat, numerous European F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft were scheduled to go through a Mid-Life Update (MLU) program. The MLU program was designed to bring the Block 15 aircraft up to the standards of the Block 50/52 F-16C/D, in particular to give them the capability of carrying and launching BVR weapons such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM, together with the ability to carry out precision weapons delivery missions at night and in adverse weather.
The international MLU agreement was signed on May 3, 1991, with the USA, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway all being participants. The USA had originally planned to upgrade some of its F-16A/Bs as part of the MLU program, but because of the end of the Cold War and the general reduction in the US fighter force, it withdrew from the program in 1992, but agreed to continue to support the MLU and to carry out test flying for development. The European MLU pact had to be revised downward to reflect the new fiscal constraints arising from the end of the Cold War.
General Dynamics (now Lockheed Fort Worth) was awarded a contract to build the MLU kits. One F-16 from each of the USAF, Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian air forces was delivered to Lockheed Forth Worth in September 1992 to act as a prototype for conversion under the MLU program.
The MLU aircraft are all re-equipped with the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-66(V)2 radar. This more advanced unit has an improved transmitter and low-power RF section, and a new signal data processor. The system has a 25-percent longer range, and can cary out multiple missile engagements. It is compatable with BVR missiles such as SkyFlash, AIM-7 and MICA as well as the AMRAAM.
The three computers of the original F-16 (the fire-control computer, the stores management computer, and the HUD controller) are replaced by a single Texas Instruments (now Raytheon) modular mission computer.
The gauge cockpit instruments are replaced by electronic instruments using full-color LCD displays. The original HUD is replaced by a wide-angle GEC-Marconi unit similar to that fitted to the Block 50/52 F-16C/D. The cockpit and display generator are compatible with night-vision goggles. The cockpit and display generator also have provisions for helmet-mounted displays, but HMD technology is not incorporated into the system itself.
The MLU carries the Hazeltine AXP-113(V) IFF system, with a quadruple set of interrogator antenna mounted ahead of the windshield. This system is not carried in USAF F-16Cs.
A fully-integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) is installed, and a digital terrain system (DTS) is fitted. The DTS is built into the OSC/Fairchild Defense Data Transfer Unit (DTU). The DTU allows the pilot to load mission data into the system via a plug-in cartridge. The DTU cartridge has a processor which incorporates a terrain profile matching algorithm. DTS determines the exact position of the fighter by matching the changing radar altimeter readings to the terrain profiles stored in the database. DTS provides terrain-following information to the HUD, and DTS data provides the aircraft's pilot with a waring if the aircraft is in any danger of striking an obstacle. GPS and INS provide two independent check on the health of the DTS. The DTS also provides passive ranging to ground targets.
The MLU also provides chin pylons for FLIR and targeting pods. The basic MLU does not provide an active onboard electronic warfare system, but the Terma EW system can support active jamming and missile approach warning systems.
The first MLU aircraft flew in April of 1995. By early 1998, conversions were being carried out in all four countries. Present plans are for 48 Belgian, 61 Danish, 156 Dutch, and 56 Norwegian F-16A/Bs to go through the MLU program. The program is scheduled to continue into 2003.
Sources:
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Combat Aircraft F-16, Doug Richardson, Crescent, 1992.
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General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors, John Wegg,
Naval Institute Press, 1990.
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The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers,
Orion, 1987.
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United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
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F-16 Fighting Falcon--A Major Review of the West's Universal
Warplane, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower Journal, Spring 1991.
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The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft, Gallery, 1989.
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Modern Military Aircraft--F-16 Viper, Lou Drendel, Squadron/Signal
Publications, 1992.
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Lockheed F-16 Variants, Part 1, World Airpower Journal, Volume 21,
Summer 1995.
- Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 40 and Beyond, Bill Sweetman, World AirPower Journal, Vol 36, Spring 1999
