Commencement of repainting of the Air Force’s “dirty” F-16s

From Savvas D. Vlassis

The Air Force has already started the repainting procedures of the F-16 fighters, after a number of years when the process was neglected due to the limited operating budgets allocated by the Ministry of Defense. The condition was evident from the image presented by the Block 30/50/52+ F-16s, where the damage to the “Ghost” paint was creating a deep tan on all surfaces. Such as had written months ago THE DUREAUS IPPOS, the first actions concerned some F-16 Block 50 fighters. In this case, the repainting concerned the inner surfaces of the air duct and the related work is done at the ODA which now has the relevant capability.

But beyond that, in April, an F-16 Block 52+ entered the EAB paint shop, but all exterior surfaces will also be painted. Given the exclusion of the US Air Force’s most advanced surface coatings with enhanced containment properties and infrared (IR) tracer (commonly known as Have Glass V, without this being the official service name) and the information that they are non-detachable, as noted by the TRONIC KNIGHT, the Air Force is proceeding with the selection of the paint coating selected for the F-16 Block 52+ Advanced of the PEACE XENIA IV program. This differs significantly as it is much more resistant to wear and tear, as the much better image of the last F-16s that joined Greek service about fifteen years ago reveals.

Specifically, while F-16 Block 52+ are painted with FMS2026 FORM 1 polyurethane coatings, F-16 Block 52+ Advanced are painted with FMS2026 FORM 2. Paint coatings of three different shades are used, which make up this particular variant. These paints, in addition to the properties of reducing the IR trace, offer a relative advantage of optical deception under certain conditions and angles of incidence of sunlight, so the general color trace of the airplane opens up and “ties” better with the generally open background of the sky. The inability of FMS2026 FORM 1 to wear resulted in the neutralization of this property. It is noted that under the paint coating, the surfaces of the F-16s have a porous coating of special radar signal absorbing materials.

The first F-16 Block 52+ to be repainted will then undergo F-16V program upgrade work. It has already been planned to paint a number of fighters in the ODA, as well as in its context Security Supply and Intelligence (SSI) Agreement of the F-16V program includes the cost of upgrading and establishing relevant aircraft painting infrastructure. The process will be gradually extended to the F-16 fleet.

No US on Have Glass V paint for Greek F-16s