Inventory
Peace Onyx I
In September 1983, the government of Turkey announced plans to buy 132 F-16Cs and 24 F-16Ds under the Peace Onyx I program, which operates under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The first eight aircraft in the order were to be built at Fort Worth, but the remaining 148 aircraft were to be assembled in Turkey at TUSAS Aerospace Industries (TAI) at Akinci (old name was Murted). TUSAS is an acronym which stands for TUSAS Ucak Sanayii AS, or Turkish Aircraft Industries, which is a company owned jointly by Turkish and American shareholders. Under the terms of Peace Onyx I, TAI is not allowed to sell its aircraft to any air force, including the THK. Consequently, F-16s built at Akinci have to be first delivered to the USAF, which then turns them over to the THK. In practice, each locally-built F-16 makes a flight to NAS Sigonella (or any other US base close to Turkey) where it performs a touch-and-go (obligatory; the aircraft has to touch US soil) and then flies back to Turkey.
The Turk Hava Kuvvetleri (THK, or Turkish Air Force) received its first two F-16s (both Lockheed-built Block 30 F-16Cs, #86-0066 and 67) as assembly kits in March of 1987, and Turkey officially received its first F-16D in a ceremony at Fort Worth in July of 1987. The first Turkish F-16C/Ds arrived at Akinci AB in October of 1987, followed by the first flight of a Turkish-built F-16C (86-0068) on October 20, 1987. Starting with the 44th aircraft (USAF serial number 88-0033), all THK F-16s from the first batch were manufactured to Block 40 standard. Production of the Peace Onyx I order ended with F-16C Block 40 93-0014.
TAI has also been awarded a contract to build wings, center fuselages, and aft fuselages for USAF F-16s. They have also been awarded a contract to build 46 Block 40 F-16C/Ds for the Egyptian Air Force under the Peace Vector IV program (to be delivered through the USAF of course).
Peace Onyx II
In March of 1992, a follow-on order for two batches of 40 Block 50 F-16C/Ds (68Cs and 12 Ds) was placed under the Peace Onyx II FMS program. The funding of the first 40 planes will be met primarily by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Emirates. Peace Onyx II started with the production of F-16 Block 50, serial number 93-0657. The program is worth some USD $3.5 billion. TEI (Turkish Engine Industries) will supply 96 F129 IPE engines, ASELSAN will produce 100 LN93-RLG. By march 1997, no decision was taken yet about the EW suite. Deliveries will continue well into 1999.| Order | Model | Block | Serials | Delivered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peace Onyx I | F-16C | Block 30 | 86-0066 / 86-0072 | 1987-1994 |
| 86-0009 / 86-0021 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 87-0019 / 87-0032 | 1987-1994 | |||
| F-16D | Block 30 | 86-0191 / 86-0196 | 1987-1994 | |
| 87-0002 / 87-0003 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 88-0013 | 1987-1994 | |||
| F-16C | Block 40 | 88-0033 / 88-0037 | 1987-1994 | |
| 89-0022 / 89-0041 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 90-0001 / 90-0021 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 91-0001 / 91-0021 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 92-0001 / 92-0021 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 93-0001 / 93-0014 | 1987-1994 | |||
| F-16D | Block 40 | 88-0014 / 88-0015 | 1987-1994 | |
| 89-0042 / 89-0045 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 90-0022 / 90-0024 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 91-0022 / 91-0024 | 1987-1994 | |||
| 92-0022 / 92-0024 | 1987-1994 | |||
| Peace Onyx II | F-16C | Block 50D | 93-0657/............ | 1996-....... |
| F-16D | Block 50D | 93-0691/............ | 1996-....... | |
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