Lockheed Martin has received a $1.2 billion contract to provide upgrades on the Republic of Korea Air Force’s fleet of F-16s. The company will upgrade 134 South Korean fighters based on the F-16V configuration, commonly known as Vipers. New systems will include the advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and an off-the-shelf avionics suite, as well as an improved pedestal display and data bus. The agreement is a foreign military sales contract originated by the Air Force, and work is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week released strategies meant to focus the Pentagon’s “alphabet soup” of innovation organizations and proliferate artificial intelligence—moves that experts say could provide the structure needed to make the military’s efforts to integrate and field new technology more effective.

