Singapore Technologies Aerospace is looking to interest completely new customers in its Falcon One F-16 upgrade -- and is not merely restricting its business to existing F-16 operators, says ST Aerospace president Wee Siew Kim.

The Falcon One program is aimed at the F-16A/B family and early-model F-16C/Ds. It adds a host of new cockpit and avionics systems, including three new color MFDs, a new HUD, multi-mode radar, digital moving map, HOTAS controls, helmet-mounted display, and onboard datalink.

"As operators move on from their older aircraft, a supply of (second-hand) F-16s will increasingly open up, so we are not just talking to existing operators but to entirely new customers who could adopt the Falcon One F-16, as a lead-in fighter trainer for example," Wee said.

"We are undertaking this marketing ourselves. If we were to take aircraft 'out of the desert' and sell them on to a new customer, then such a deal would obviously be covered by the usual government-to-government provisions-but we would be able to work within any guidelines."

ST Aeropace is currently talking to customers "on three continents" with regard to the Falcon One upgrade. These include, said Wee, "Venezuela, certain Middle East nations and Thailand, maybe. I wouldn't discount Indonesia, but we do not have many dealings with them at this time."

When asked if he saw the Asia Pacific region as ST Aerospace's natural market, Wee replied, "It's a global business and just because you live next door to someone it doesn't mean that he will be your first customer. For example, our first F-5 upgrade was with Venezuela, five years before the RSAF (Republic of Singapore Air Force). Now we are working with Turkey and hopefully soon Brazil."

Discussing the other companies associated with the Falcon One program, Wee said, "BAE Systems brings great strengths in components, giving us good products to integrate and making the aircraft a viable weapons system. Lockheed Martin have expressed a desire to support us as an OEM and they are definitely an integral part of the plan. We have known them for a long time and we have a multi-facetted relationship."

With Israeli firms also chasing the F-16 upgrade market, Wee views the Israeli involvement in Falcon One sanguinely. "We are used to competition. In fact, objectively, you could say that competition is always good. The F-5 business is very similar to what we face now with the F-16-sometimes we're partners, sometimes we're competitors. There's no clear answer."

By Robert Hewson