The F-16 production line continues to turn out Falcons at a rate of about six per month, according to June Shrewsbury, Lockheed’s vice-president for F-16 programs. There are now five different configurations—bound for nine countries—intermixed on the assembly line. Lean manufacturing techniques allow a mass-production approach to what are essentially customer-specific versions. Lockheed calls this “mass customization.” In all, the company has produced more than 120 different configurations.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.