Originally Posted by
ORAC
Belgian F-16 Replacement Program In Turmoil
The scandal, which has already resulted in the suspension of several military officers and civil servants, came to light after the leaking of a Lockheed Martin assessment dated April 2016 to several Belgian news outlets on March 20. The documents suggested the country’s F-16s could be upgraded and given another six years of operational life, making a new fighter purchase less urgent than government officials had previously contended.
Hmmmm. How much money would it have taken to extend their service life for six years? And had that money been allocated to F-16 service life extension, would that money have come out of the budget for a replacement aircraft and thereby endangering the replacement program? It appears that at best an investment in life extending the F-16 would have delayed the replacement decision by six years. And perhaps reduced the competition from two (Typhoon and Lightening) to just one (Lightening.)