Warplanes: May 23, 2003

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The American F-16 fighter has become the world's most widely used, and purchased, warplane. There are over 2,000 in service with the U.S. Air Force and another 2,000 in service with 23 other countries. The F-16 entered service in 1979 and has gone through considerable upgrades since them. Countries that currently have F-16s on order include Bahrain (10), Greece (60), Israel (50), Poland (48), Egypt (24), New Zealand (28), United Arab Emirates (80), Singapore (20), South Korea (20), Oman (12) and Chile (10). Italy is leasing 34 F-16s until its Eurofighter aircraft are ready to enter service. Hungary is buying 24 ex-USAF fighters. Israel has the largest fleet of F-16s outside the United States, with 237 aircraft. These are equipped largely with Israeli electronics.

 

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