F-16Cs return to USAF’s ‘Blacksnakes’ after 13-year absence

The Indiana Air National Guard’s (ANG’s) 122nd Fighter Wing (FW) celebrated the arrival of the first F-16C Block 40 Fighting Falcons for the 163rd Fighter Squadron (FS) ‘Blacksnakes’ on October 23.

One of the two F-16C Block 40 Fighting Falcons (88-0466) to be delivered to the 122nd FW’s 163rd FS ‘Blacksnakes’ is seen on the ground shortly after arriving at Fort Wayne ANGB Indiana, on October 21. — One of the two F-16C Block 40 Fighting Falcons (88-0466) to be delivered to the 122nd FW’s 163rd FS ‘Blacksnakes’ is seen on the ground shortly after arriving at Fort Wayne ANGB, Indiana, on October 21. US ANG/Airman 1st Class Halley Clark

Two F-16Cs (88-0457 and 88-0466), which had previously been operated by the 309th FS ‘Wild Ducks’ – a component of the USAF’s 56th FW at Luke AFB, Arizona – arrived at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base (ANGB) on October 21. The ‘Wild Ducks’ only had the jets for a short time after receiving them from the 54th Fighter Group’s 8th FS ‘The Black Sheep’ as part of a swap that sent F-16C/D Block 42s to Holloman AFB in New Mexico.

Known as the ‘Blacksnakes’, the 163rd FS had operated the F-16C/D Block 25 from 1991 to 2006 and the F-16C/D Block 30 from 2006 to 2010, when the unit transitioned to the A-10C Thunderbolt II. The squadron’s return to the F-16C/D was set in motion by the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that authorised the USAF’s request to retire the Indiana-based unit’s 21 A-10Cs.