{"id":159926,"date":"2026-10-07T17:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T11:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=159926"},"modified":"2026-10-07T17:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T11:51:20","slug":"first-f-16-block-72-flies-as-morocco-nears-new-3-787-billion-fighter-delivery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/07\/first-f-16-block-72-flies-as-morocco-nears-new-3-787-billion-fighter-delivery\/","title":{"rendered":"First F-16 Block 72 Flies as Morocco Nears New $3.787 Billion Fighter Delivery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GREENVILLE<\/strong> \u2014 The first F-16 <\/a>Block 72 fighter built for the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) has completed its maiden flight, opening the next stage of a major program to modernize Morocco\u2019s combat aircraft fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed Martin announced the milestone on October 6, 2026, confirming that the aircraft will now continue flight testing before its first delivery to Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aircraft is a two-seat F-16D and flew from Lockheed Martin\u2019s Greenville production facility in South Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flight marks the first time a Block 72 aircraft has taken to the air, making Morocco the launch customer for this particular F-16 configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) serves the wider Greenville area, although the fighter\u2019s maiden flight took place at the manufacturer\u2019s facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed Martin moved F-16 final assembly to Greenville from Fort Worth, Texas, creating a South Carolina<\/a> production center for international customers and helping sustain the program decades after the original fighter entered service. The facility supports international F-16 orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"F-16D
Photo: GoodFon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Morocco F-16 First Flight Milestone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Morocco became the first customer to select the F-16 Block 72 configuration when the U.S. government approved a possible Foreign Military Sale in March 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed deal covered 25 F-16C\/D Block 72 aircraft and related equipment at an estimated value of $3.787 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The package included Pratt & Whitney<\/a> F100-229 engines, APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars, modular mission computers, Link 16 systems and modern navigation equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also included helmet-mounted cueing systems and a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Block 72 shares its major modernization features with the Block 70, but the two configurations use different engines. The Block 72 uses the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229, while the Block 70 uses General Electric\u2019s F110-GE-129.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Advanced F-16 Features And Capabilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed Martin describes the F-16 Block 72 as the newest and most advanced version of the Fighting Falcon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aircraft incorporates modernized avionics, advanced sensors and upgraded mission systems, alongside improvements intended to enhance safety and reliability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco\u2019s choice of the Block 72 also fits its existing F-16 fleet. The RMAF already operates F-16C\/D Block 52+ aircraft powered by F100 engines, allowing the new fighters to maintain greater commonality with the existing fleet and support infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco is also upgrading its existing 23 F-16C\/D Block 52+ aircraft to the F-16V configuration, TWZ <\/a>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, the new aircraft and upgraded fighters are expected to give the RMAF a larger fleet based around a substantially modernized F-16 standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Belgian Air Component F-16 | Photo: NATO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

F-16 Delivery Ahead After Testing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The maiden flight does not mark the end of the production process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Moroccan F-16 Block 72 will now continue through flight testing before its first delivery, although Lockheed Martin has not announced a specific delivery date in its October 6 statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first aircraft also represents an important point in the international expansion of the F-16 Block 70\/72 family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several countries have selected the latest-generation configuration, while Morocco\u2019s aircraft becomes the first Block 72 to reach the flight-test stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco\u2019s wider F-16 modernization effort extends beyond aircraft procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed Martin is working with Moroccan industry on a planned maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Benslimane that is expected to support aircraft maintenance and could eventually expand to the F-16 fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first flight therefore represents both a production milestone and a step toward Morocco\u2019s planned expansion of its modern fighter capability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the RMAF, the Block 72 program is set to strengthen the role of the F-16 as a central component of its future combat-aircraft fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join us on\u00a0Telegram Group\u00a0<\/a>for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first F-16 Block 72 fighter built for the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) has completed its maiden flight, opening the next stage of a major program to modernize Morocco\u2019s combat aircraft fleet and strengthen its future airpower capabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":52963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8465,8479,6761],"tags":[2030,26787,186,81,737,13965,9011],"class_list":{"0":"post-159926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-aerospace","8":"category-defense","9":"category-news","10":"tag-aviation-a2z-news","11":"tag-f-16-fighting-falcon","12":"tag-iata","13":"tag-latest-aviation-news","14":"tag-lockheed-martin","15":"tag-morocco","16":"tag-south-carolina"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159926"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159964,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159926\/revisions\/159964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}