The Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville received the company’s first F-16 airplane from the U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin announced on March 15. It’s part of a 10-year, $900 million contract for the company to provide support and depot-overflow services for the aircraft.

The F-16 arrived from Edwards Air Force Base in California on March 9.

“The arrival of this first jet marks the beginning of fighter sustainment work at the site and positions Greenville as an F-16 Center of Excellence, supporting both F-16 production and sustainment operations,” said Mike Fox, Lockheed Martin Greenville site director, in a release.

The contact — called an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract — also sets up the first U.S.-based F-16 industry depot to support government-owned depot facilities and includes depot-level maintenance activities, predefined programmatic work, aircraft modification and unplanned drop-in maintenance.

There are currently two F-16 contract depots overseas — one in Europe and the other in the Pacific.

“We are excited for this opportunity to expand our partnership with the U.S. Air Force and ensure the continued readiness and capability of the F-16 fleet,” said Danya Trent, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Program. “Our team of F-16 experts in Greenville are ready and prepared to meet our customer’s most challenging problems, partnering between production and sustainment operations, giving full-life-cycle coverage for the F-16.”

More than 4,500 F-16s have been made and are operating in 25 countries. These fighter jets make up about 45% of the USAF’s fighter jets.

Lockheed Martin is based in Bethesda, Maryland. The company employs more than 114,000 people around the world. The global security and aerospace company works on the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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