Orville Prins, Vice President, Business Development-India, Lockheed Martin in a conversation with photojournalist Abhishek Singh, elaborated on the advantages of the F-16IN Super Viper

SP’s: Can you throw some light on the advantages of full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system.

Prins: FADEC system has better fuel efficiency, carefree engine handling, with guaranteed thrust settings, systems integration with engine and aircraft systems, provision for engine long-term health monitoring and diagnostics, helps in reducing the number of parameters to be monitored by flight crews, and can support automatic aircraft and engine emergency responses (e.g. in case of aircraft stall, engines increase thrust automatically), etc.

SP’s: It is heard that in the event of a total FADEC failure, pilots have no way of manually controlling the engines for a restart?

Prins: The FADEC on the F-16IN Super Viper has multiple levels of redundancy to provide safe operation during faults. In the unlikely event of a complete FADEC failure, the Super Viper reverts to a fully mechanical backup control.

SP’s: How are the flying evaluation trails going on, as the Indian Air Force has announced that the trails will be over in 3-4 months?

Prins: The F-16IN team successfully completed trials in February and demonstrated that the Super Viper meets or exceeds all IAF requirements. Any information about the trials must come directly from the IAF.

SP’s: Can we call F-16IN a fresh product for IAF or is it an upgraded version of previous F-16s. What are the new features installed in the aircraft?

Prins: The F-16IN Super Viper is specifically designed to meet or exceed IAF requirements and will be the most advanced version of the F-16 ever produced. Starting with the advanced Block 60 model of the F-16, we have added the latest advancements in weapons, sensors and other capabilities to make the Super Viper the ultimate fourth generation fighter.

SP’s: Elaborate the advantages of on CFTs (conformal fuel tanks) of F-16IN, as it gives a completely new look to the aircraft.

Prins: The conformal fuel tanks are an innovative design that gives the F-16IN significantly more range without affecting aerodynamic performance or using wing weapon stations for external fuel tanks.