The Republic of Korea requested termination of a $140 million contract to develop upgrades for its KF-16 Falcon fighter fleet under a foreign military sales deal, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Wednesday. BAE Systems was supplying development and long-lead production items as the first phase of a two-part effort to upgrade a total of 134 Block 52 KF-16C/D fighters with advanced radar, new avionics, sensors, and weapons capability, according to DSCA’s initial announcement. The US government informed BAE of Korea’s request to “terminate for convenience” and will “work with BAE to close out the contract,” according to the Nov. 5 release. Work was undertaken at Ft. Worth, Texas, and contracted through the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The company was slated to deliver the first upgraded KF-16 in 2019, according to the contract announcement published back in May. The Korean government has not detailed alternate upgrade plans or possible options.
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…