Lockheed Martin announced on 2 November 2015 that the F-16C Block 50 had been tested to 27,713 Equivalent Flight Hours during thirty-two rounds of comprehensive stress tests at the company’s Full Scale Durability Test facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The airframe was then subjected to several maximum-load conditions to demonstrate that the airframe still had sufficient strength to operate within its full operational flight envelope. The airframe will now undergo teardown and fractography inspection, which is expected to take several months. Test data, collected over nearly two years, will be used to identify an extended, definitive flight hour limit for the F-16 and demonstrate the safety and durability of the aircraft well beyond its original design service life of 8,000 flight hours.
