Lockheed Martin flew the first F-16 produced for the Chilean Air Force on its initial production acceptance flight. Two flights were successfully accomplished here on June 23, with no discrepancies reported on either flight.

"The Chile program continues to progress right on schedule," said June Shrewsbury, vice president of F-16 programs. "First flight is a significant milestone and the first of several leading to the planned arrival of the aircraft in Chile early next year. We continue to be excited about our progress and about meeting our customer's expectations."

This milestone follows the April 14 inauguration ceremony for Chile's Peace Puma program held in Fort Worth attended by the Chilean Minister of Defense, Jaime Ravinet, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Air Force, Gen. Osvaldo Sarabia, and Chile's Ambassador to the United States, Andres Bianchi. The next milestone planned for July involves the acceptance of the first three Chilean aircraft by the U.S. government. One of these aircraft will be used for flight testing. The other two will be used for hands-on maintenance training of Chilean Air Force technicians. This training will be done in Fort Worth. The next two aircraft off the production line will be the first sent to Chile early next year. All 10 aircraft are planned for delivery in 2006.

The Chilean F-16 Peace Puma program is a U.S. government Foreign Military Sales program and includes 10 Advanced Block 50 F-16s: six single-seat F-16Cs and four two-seat F-16Ds.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The F-16 is the choice of 24 countries. More than 4,000 aircraft have been delivered worldwide from assembly lines in five countries. The F-16 program has been characterized by unprecedented international cooperation among governments, air forces and aerospace industries. Major upgrades to all F-16 versions are being incorporated to keep the fleet modern and fully supportable over the aircraft's long service life.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., a business area of Lockheed Martin, is a leader in the design, research and development, systems integration, production and support of advanced military aircraft and related technologies. Its customers include the military services of the United States and allied countries throughout the world. Products include the F-16, F/A-22, F-35 JSF, F-117, C-5, C-130, C-130J, P-3, S-3 and U-2. The company produces major components for the F-2 fighter, and is a co-developer of the C-27J tactical transport and T-50 advanced jet trainer.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin Corp. employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2004 sales of $35.5 billion.

High resolution photo of the Chile F-16 first flight is available at the

following URL: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=16911&rsbci=1&fti=129

                               &ti=0&sc=400

             For additional information, visit our Web site:
                      http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

         F-16 is a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin Corp.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company