In the early 1970s, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) needed a successor to the F-104G Starfighter and the NF-5A Freedom...
In the early 1970s, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) needed a successor to the F-104G Starfighter and the NF-5A Freedom Fighter. Together with Belgium, Denmark and Norway, the Netherlands investigated several options. There were various candidates, namely: the French Mirage F-1, the Swedish Saab Viggen, the Northrop F-17 Cobra and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
In May 1975, the Dutch government decided to purchase eighty-four F-16s with an option to buy another eighteen aircraft. A total of 213 F-16s were purchased, the first of which was delivered to Leeuwarden Air Base on 6 June 1979 and the last on 27 February 1992.
Swing Role
The introduction of the F-16 not only meant the introduction of a new aircraft, but of a whole new concept of operations. Previously, the squadrons had specialised in one task. The capabilities of the F-16, however, made it possible to introduce the swing-role concept, in which several tasks could be performed, if necessary within a single mission.
Versatile aircraft
The F-16 can carry a wide variety of bombs and missiles, such as free-falling bombs and precision-guided weapons. The F-16 can also carry extra fuel tanks and electronic jamming equipment.
For reconnaissance purposes, the Royal Netherlands Air Force has special camera pods at its disposal. This reconnaissance capability is not only used during peacekeeping missions, but also for judicial tasks and to photograph river dykes inthe event of extremely high water levels.
Mid-Life Update
The projected lifespan of the F-16 was 20 years. By the mid-1990s, however, there was no suitable successor to the Dutch F-16s. In 1998, theMinistry of Defence (MoD) decided to modernise the F-16 by means of a Mid-Life Update (MLU) in order to lengthen the operational lifespan of the aircraft by about ten years. Major improvements were:
New radar software - More effective operations at night and in bad weather.
Introduction of identification software, new fire control software – Detection and identification oftargets at a greater distance.
Improvement of the cockpit – Reduces the pilot’sworkload.
Global Positioning System (GPS) – Improves the accuracy of ground attacks.
The F-16 came into service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) in the late 1970s. After years of good service and capability, the F-16 is approaching the end of its operational, technical and economic lifespan.
There are different types of ageing which the F-16 will encounter during the next decade:
Operational ageing
The F-16 is no longer able to deal with new and upcoming operational circumstances (different threats).
Technical ageing
Spare parts are more difficult to obtain, wear and tear is harder to repair and maintenance is becoming more labour-intensive which causes pressure on deployment.
Economic ageing
The costs to prevent operational and technical ageing are rising.
Originally, the F-16’s lifespan was 20 years, but in the 1990s the Ministry of Defence decided to provide the Dutch F-16s with a Mid-Life Update (MLU) to extend the lifespan of the aircraft. Around 2015, the oldest aircraft with an MLU will reach the end of their lifespan.
The F-16 phase-out will continue until at least 2023, at which point the oldest F-16s will be about 40 years old.
