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Columbia Business Monthly

Lockheed Martin's F-16 Depot Program to Add 50-80 Jobs in Greenville

Dec 18, 2020 04:57PM ● By David Dykes
By David Dykes

A 10-year, $900 million contract the U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin is expected to place 15 F-16 fighter aircraft at Greenville’s S.C. Technology and Aviation Center each year and add 50-80 jobs, company, congressional and SCTAC officials said.

Lockheed Martin is the F-16 Fighting Falcon’s original equipment manufacturer and is producing F-16s aircraft at SCTAC, where the company is the largest tenant.

Lockheed Martin officials said the Air Force contract will include depot-level maintenance activities, predefined programmatic work, aircraft modification and unplanned drop-in maintenance. 

The company said Dec. 11 that 4,588 F-16s have been produced and operated by 25 countries.

“This is a great win for our team, community, and state and positions our Greenville site as the Center of Excellence for F-16, now supporting both F-16 production and F-16 sustainment,” said Mike Fox, Lockheed Martin Greenville site director.

“This 10-year contract is expected to place 15 F-16s at the site each year for substantial maintenance work, adding 50-80 new jobs in support of this program,” said U.S. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC). “I was proud to support Lockheed Martin’s efforts in securing this contract along with the rest of the South Carolina congressional delegation.”

F-16s make up the largest fleet of fighters in the Air Force, approximately 45 percent of the fleet, and will remain a viable weapon system well into the future, according to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.