A two-seat F-16 in desert camouflage climbed away from Lockheed Martin's plant in Greenville, South Carolina, on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, carrying red Moroccan roundels on its wings. It was the first flight of the first F-16 Block 72 ever built, and the first of 25 new Vipers ordered for the Royal Moroccan Air Force.

Morocco became the launch customer for the Block 72 back in 2019. Seven years later, the jet is finally in the air, and the kingdom is one step closer to fielding the most modern F-16 variant Lockheed Martin builds.

Block 72: a Block 70 With a Pratt & Whitney Heart

The Block 72 is the twin of the Block 70 that Taiwan, Slovakia and Bulgaria are now receiving. Both share the same AN/APG-83 AESA radar, the same new cockpit displays and the same updated mission computers. The difference sits in the back: the Block 70 uses General Electric's F110 engine, while the Block 72 is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229.

That choice is not an accident. Morocco already flies F-16C/D Block 52+ jets with the same F100-PW-229, so its mechanics, spares and engine shops carry straight over to the new fleet. For a mid-sized air force, that commonality is worth a great deal of money and a great deal of readiness.

Seven Years From Order to First Flight

The US State Department cleared the sale of 25 new F-16C/D Block 72 jets to Morocco in 2019, at an estimated value of about $3.787 billion. A separate package covered upgrading Morocco's existing F-16 fleet to the F-16V standard. Like other Viper customers, Morocco then waited while Lockheed Martin moved F-16 production from Fort Worth, Texas, to its new line in Greenville and worked through a large backlog.

The jet that flew on Tuesday is a two-seat F-16D. It now enters a programme of further flight tests before it is handed over and ferried to Morocco. Lockheed Martin has not published a delivery date.

Fifty Years of Lockheed Martin in Morocco

Lockheed Martin points out that its relationship with Morocco goes back more than 50 years, to the delivery of a C-130H Hercules in 1974. Today the Moroccan armed forces fly F-16s, C-130s and Black Hawk helicopters, and the company is building a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility of more than 8,000 square metres at Benslimane. It will start with C-130 work, with plans to expand to F-16 support.

For Rabat, the Block 72 is the centrepiece of a long modernisation drive. Once the 25 new jets arrive and the older fleet is upgraded, Morocco will operate one of the most modern F-16 fleets in Africa, all speaking the same radar, cockpit and engine language.

Moroccan broadcaster MEDI1 TV covered the announcement on Tuesday:

Sources: Lockheed Martin news release (6 October 2026), The War Zone, aeroTELEGRAPH, AeroTime, US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (2019)