Singapore reveals upgraded F-16 jets can fire Python-5 missiles

 Singapore’s upgraded F-16 fighter jets can now fire the Python-5 air-to-air missile, the country has confirmed.

An information board showcasing the upgraded Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons for the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s open house event lists the Python-5, made by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, among the weapons the aircraft can use, Defense News reports. 

The list also includes satellite-guided and laser-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition variants. Singapore had asked to integrate the two weapons in its Foreign Military Sales request to the US as part of an F-16 upgrade package. The 2014 request to upgrade 60 Singaporean F-16s also sought integration of the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb and the CBU-105 (D-4)/B sensor fused weapon.

The Air Force’s F-16 upgrade program also included the AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, new mission computers, and identification friend or foe technology.

Singapore’s 20 F-16D Block 52+ aircraft receiving upgrades first. The country also operates 40 older Block 52 aircraft delivered from 1998 onward.

A commemorative unit patch for the Singaporean F-16 upgrade program had shown a Python missile, hinting at its eventual integration with the jet. The US Air Force’s 416th Flight Test Squadron, based at Edwards Air Force Base in California, issued the patch. The squadron is also supporting South Korea’s ongoing F-16 upgrade program.

The patch also showed what appears to be the ELL-8212 self-protection jamming pod, which was in use with Singapore’s F-16s prior to upgrade efforts. Elta Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, makes the pod.

Singapore’s F-16 pilots also use the Display and Sight Helmet system, made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, that allows pilots to aim weapons by looking at a target.