Lockheed Martin has received the first contract to support the sale of 20 Advanced Block 52 F-16s to the Egyptian air force.

The $213 million award covers long-lead tasks for building 16 single-seat F-16Cs and four F-16D trainers, each powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines. Deliveries are scheduled to conclude in 2013, says Lockheed.

Egypt has ordered a total of 240 F-16s since 1980 under the Peace Vector programme. Its current fleet includes 201 A- to D-model examples, as listed in Flightglobal's MiliCAS database.

Source: Flight International