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2024 marked both the 40th anniversary of the Greenville site and the 50th anniversary of the F-16. Other achievements include South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster reading a formal proclamation from the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate declaring Jan. 30 as F-16 Fighting Falcon Day.
In March, Bahrain received the first ferry cell of three F-16 Block 70 jets from Greenville, making it the first Gulf Cooperation Council member to operate the F-16 and the first to integrate the F-16 Block 70 variant into its fleet. In June, a single-seat F-16 Block 70 for Bahrain was accepted by the Defense Contract Management Agency, making it the 4,600th F-16, and in July, the Slovak Republic became the first European nation to receive the most advanced 4th Generation fighter in the world with the arrival of the first two jets in the country.
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The first F-16 Block 70 built-in Greenville had its first flight on Jan. 24. The total flight time was approximately 50 minutes and included airworthiness checks, such as engine, flight control and fuel system checks, as well as basic aircraft handling.
On Sept. 30, the first Slovak F-16 Block 70 took flight, where multiple system tests were conducted to validate performance and supersonic capabilities. This jet would remain in Greenville until 2024 to support on-job training for Slovak maintainers.
The first F-16 part of the F-16 Sustainment Depot program was delivered to the U.S. Air Force with increased capabilities, extended service life and integrated advanced mission systems. The nose-to-tail maintenance was completed by the Greenville-based team, largely comprised of former veterans who make up nearly 25 percent of the workforce across the site.
On March 15, an F-16 Block 40A from Edwards Air Force Base, California, arrived in Greenville as the first U.S. Air Force jet to receive sustainment upgrades as part of the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract.
The IDIQ contract established the first-ever U.S.-based F-16 industry depot to support government-owned depot facilities. This included depot-level maintenance activities, predefined programmatic work, aircraft modification and unplanned drop-in maintenance.
In early 2020, the Greenville site was awarded a 10-year contract with the U.S. Air Force to provide sustainment support depot-overflow services for F-16 aircraft. This includes depot-level maintenance for previous Blocks of United States Air Force F-16s.
On Nov. 11, F-16 production officially began in Greenville on the Royal Bahrani Air Force’s F-16 Block 70 when sheet metal mechanic Majik Prior drilled into a part for the F-16 center fuselage.
Since that key milestone, five customers have joined production for the now 148 jets on contract. There is potential for up to 300 new aircraft to be produced in Greenville based on international interest.
In support of increased F-35 Lightning II production in Fort Worth, Texas, the production line for F-16 Fighting Falcons was moved to Greenville, South Carolina. The standup of the new production line was in support of the 16 F-16 Block 70 jets for the Kingdom of Bahrain. With the move, over 4,000 pieces of project and hand tools made the journey on more than 190 semi-trucks.
Lockheed Martin’s Greenville site, previously known as Lockheed Aeromod Center, opened its doors on Aug. 27, 1984, with a team of 12 employees and 55 acres of facilities.
For 35 years, the site focused solely on providing aircraft sustainment and modification services for both military and civil aircraft, including the P-3, C-130, KC-10 and C-9.
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Hangar 16, the heart of our production line, was fully renovated to enhance production capabilities and accommodate future demands, as our workforce continues to rapidly grow. This expansion created 300 new positions in the Upstate. Lockheed Martin utilized local suppliers for some of the major infrastructure changes, which included installing eight wall-to-wall hoists to move production F-16s to new locations. This revitalization across the site contributes to an annual economic impact of $1.3B in South Carolina.
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As aircraft sustainment work increased, our facilities grew to meet the needs of our customers.
In 1998, we built a state-of-the-art paint and coatings facility with two environmentally controlled bays and a unique down draft system. Over the years, our skilled experts have provided quality and affordable results for a variety of aircraft, including F-16s, C-130s, P-3s, L-1011s, A-10s, VH-60 helicopters, and even the Presidential C-9C airplane.
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In November 2001, Hangar 16, a 84,000 square foot, four-bay hangar was built to house four C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft. Hangar 16 was a project in support of the growing expansion of Lockheed Martin’s sustainment and modification business that modifies, upgrades and extends the service life of aircraft.
