Two of the Hellenic Air Force’s (HAF) upgraded F-16 fighter jets to the Viper version made their maiden flights on Wednesday, as part of the first phase of the total upgrade program of the F-16 aircraft.

The two state-of-the-art fighter aircraft are located at the Hellenic Aviation Industry facilities (the prototype is already flying to the USA ). The program has been undertaken by the Hellenic Aviation Industry and the construction company Lockheed Martin.

During the test flight, the upgraded systems of the F-16s were successfully inspected, giving the impetus for the smooth continuation of the plan to upgrade the remaining F-16 jets of the Air Force.

The flight of the modernised version of the Viper F-16 was supported by an Air Force chase aircraft and lasted about an hour. It took off at 11.00 am, performed a local flight, and landed at 11.58 am, after performing a series of scheduled tests and exhaustive checks. The tests were performed to confirm the safety and reliability of the design, as well as the functionality of the installed equipment.