Poland signs USD3.8 billion contract for F-16s MLU

A Polish F-16 at the signing of the MLU contract with the US in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on 13 August 2025. (Polish MND)

The Polish government has signed a USD3.8 billion contract with the US government for the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of its 48 F-16C/D Block 52+ to the F-16V standard (the manufactured equivalent of the newbuild Block 70/72).

Poland's Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz signed the contract at the Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa: PGZ)-owned Military Aviation Works No 2 in Bydgoszcz, where the MLU work will be conducted between 2028 and 2038.

“The current capabilities of the F-16 in the C/D version are good, but after 20 years they are insufficient against threats. We need to improve reconnaissance capabilities, communications, integration with the F-35, Abrams, and Apaches, as well as the ability to operate in every domain,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said, adding that the work will provide an equivalent “to the V Block 72 version – the same one that the Slovaks are buying as their most modern aircraft”.

Test flights and checks of two aircraft will be conducted in the United States, while the rest will be tested in Poland.

“The modernisation will include not only the aircraft themselves, but also radar systems, communications, friend-to-foe reconnaissance, ground infrastructure, simulators, and trainers,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

On 23 October 2024, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the approval of a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) worth up to USD7.3 billion for the Polish F-16 MLU.

Bringing the aircraft to the F-16V standard will include replacing their older AN/APG-68(V)9 mechanically scanned radar with Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR).