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Jordan F-16 Peace Falcon

A Jordanian request for the lease of US F-l6 fighter aircraft began shortly after His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan, a key player in the Middle East peace process, signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1994. The signing of the treaty put an end to forty-six years of conflict between the two countries and was instrumental in moving the Clinton administration to agree to a much-needed modernization of the Royal Jordanian Air Force's aging fleet of aircraft.

Congressional sour notes began to sound when the Admimistration, led by the State Department in response to a request from King Hussein, drove through a proposal for the provision of a squadron of F-16s for Jordan under a “‘no-cost, low-cost” lease, with a $220 million price-tag. A number of elements at the Department of Defense were not supportive of this mitratlve on its practical merrts and Congressional staff were aware of this divide in the Adrmmstration’s position.

During the course ofconsultations on the F-16 program for Jordan, senior Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer Damelle Pletka questioned DOD and State Department arguments that Jordan deserved additional security assistance given Its new stance toward Iraq, stating that ‘virtue should be its own reward”. By the time funding for the F-16 package was sorted out - which included tagging funds on to a Defense Department Bosnia supplemental and committing Jordan’s FMF in the foreseeable out-years to supportmg the F-l6 package, there were bruised feelings at the Defense Department and on the Hill.

During meetings between US Secretary of Defense William Perry and King Hussein in January 1996, a commitment was made that would put F-16 Fighting Falcon jets in Jordan in less than two years. The program, estimated to be just over $200 million, needed a source of funding.

On the 9th of April 1996, the first PEACE FALCON meetings were held in Amman, Jordan, to define the Royal Jordanian Air Force's (RJAF) requirements and expectations, and for U.S. program managers to discuss LOA preparation and program schedules. [Note: “Peace Falcon” is the operational title assigned to this Jordanian FMS case].

The Defense Department’s Office of International Security Assistance was less enthusnastic. Defense was “extremely reluctant” to support what was essentially a State initiative, partrcularly following the F-16 fiasco in 1994. Accordmg to one staff member, the directive was that “we will give State as much support on this as we got on our request that State seek additional FMF for Jordan to cover the F-16 costs.” something State had not been prepared to do given its other budgetary requirements. This was particularly galling to Defense.

In July 1996, an agreement was signed between the United States and Jordan authorizing the lease of 16 F-16A/B Block 15 Air Defense Fighter version aircraft. A Foreign Military Sales support/training agreement was signed and designated Peace Falcon. The official rollout of the first F-16 for the Peace Falcon program occurred in October 1997 at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. In less than 17 months the PEACE FALCOM team took mothballed F-16 aircraft out of the desert, modified and upgraded them, refurbished and repainted them, and ?ew them to another desert on the other side of the world.

The first two aircraft were safely in Jordan, as scheduled, on 17 December 1997. The remaining twelve aircraft were delivered on 25 January 1998 (3), 30 January 1998 (2), 3 March 1998 (2), 14 March 1998 (2), and 30 March 1998 (3).

A Jordanian F-16 aircraft crashed in the vicinity of the northern Syrian city of Ar-Raqqah on December 24, 2014 and the pilot was taken captive by ISIL forces. Evidence clearly indicated that ISIL did not down the aircraft as the terrorist organization is claiming.

The commander of U.S. Central Command, General Lloyd J. Austin III, who is overseeing all coalition military operations in Iraq and Syria issued a statement, "The Jordanians are highly-respected and valued partners and their pilots and crews have performed exceptionally well over the course of this campaign. We strongly condemn the actions of ISIL which has taken captive the downed pilot. We will support efforts to ensure his safe recovery, and will not tolerate ISIL's attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes."

On February 03, 2015 a video emerged online appearing to show the militant group burning Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh alive while he was locked in a cage. "This is cowardly terror by a criminal group that has no relation to Islam," Jordan's King Abdullah told his people. "The brave pilot gave his life defending his faith, country and nation, and joined other Jordanian martyrs."

Jordan executed two militants in response to the Islamic State group killing one of its pilots. The militants included Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman who was on death row for her role in a 2005 suicide bombing in Amman. The Islamic State had demanded she be released.

On 03 February 2022 the US State Department made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Jordan of F-16 C/D Block 70 Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $4.21 billion. The Government of Jordan has requested to buy twelve (12) F-16 C Block 70 aircraft; four (4) F-16 D Block 70 aircraft; twenty-one (21) F100-GE-129D engines or F100-PW229EEP engines (16 installed, 5 spares); twenty-one (21) Improved Programmable Display Generators (iPDG) (16 installed, 5 spares); twenty-one (21) AN/APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Scalable Agile Beam Radars (SABR) (16 installed, 5 spares); twenty-one (21) Modular Mission Computers (MMC) 7000AH (16 installed, 5 spares); twenty-seven (27) LN-260 (or equivalent) Embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) (EGI) with Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) and Precise Positioning Service (PPS) (16 installed, 11 spares); six (6) AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP); and other chaff and flare, ammunition, and pylons; launcher adaptors and weapons interfaces; fuel tanks and attached hardware; travel pods; aircraft and weapons integration, test, and support equipment.

Jordan officially signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the sale of eight new production F-16 Block 70 aircraft 16 June 2022. “This F-16 acquisition reflects over 70 years of U.S. cooperation and decades of partnership with Lockheed Martin,” says Aimee Burnett, vice president, Integrated Fighter Group Business Development. “Our history partnering with Jordan strengthens regional security and helps protect citizens through 21st Century Security technologies that support critical missions today and into the future.” The selection of new production F-16 aircraft extends Jordan’s existing fleet of F-16s, bringing advanced capabilities to the mission combined with affordable operating and lifecycle costs. Jordan’s new F-16s will be built in Greenville, South Carolina, where Lockheed Martin continues to hire for positions that work directly on building and sustaining these jets.