The US State Department approved on February 3 the possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Jordan of F-16 C/D Block 70 fighter and related equipment for an estimated cost of $4.21bn.

In a notification the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) revealed that Jordan has requested the acquisition of 12 Block 70 F-16 C and four Block 70 F-16D aircraft, 21 F100-GE-129D or F100-PW229EEP engines, 21 AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) scalable agile beam radars (SABR), and six AN/AAQ-33 Sniper advanced targeting pods, among other sensors.

Weapons requests included 100 KMU-556 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits for 2,000lb GBU-31 bombs; 102 KMU-572 JDAM tail kits for 500lb Laser JDAM GBU-54, 100 MAU-209 computer control group (CCG) for Paveway II (PWII) GBU-10, 102 MXU-651 air foil group (AFG) for 2,000lb PWII GBU-10, 100 MAU-210 enhanced computer control group (ECCG) for 500lb Enhanced Paveway II (EP II) EGBU-49, and 103 MXU-650 AFG for 500lb EP II EGBU-49 munitions.

The DSCA said the proposed sale would “support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally that is an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”

In addition, the sale of F-16 Block 70 fighters to Jordan would modernise Amman’s fleet and ensure continued interoperability with US and coalition forces. The principal contractor will be US-based defence prime Lockheed Martin and there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Follow Middle East state Bahrain is also acquiring the F-16 Block 70, which is the latest variation of a design that has seen more than 4,500 aircraft produced.