U.S. plans to sell 24 F-16 fighters to Morocco

Morocco plans to buy 24 F-16 fighters in a deal that would add to the backlog of orders for the jets produced at Lockheed Martin's west Fort Worth assembly plant.

The Bush administration has notified Congress that it plans to sell the fighter jets plus engines, weapons and support equipment to Morocco in a deal valued at about $2.4 billion.

Congress will have 15 days to reject the sale, which rarely happens. A final contract would then have to be negotiated among Morocco, the State Department and the Pentagon and Lockheed.

Orders for new F-16s, which until recent years were the mainstay of work at Lockheed's Fort Worth plant, have dwindled the last couple of years, and the backlog had shrunk to just 116 planes by the end of September.

Only about 2,600 of the 15,000 jobs at the plant are now directly tied to F-16 production. Much of the factory space is now set aside for work on the F-35 joint strike fighter program. The plant is now producing two to three F-16s per month. Lockheed's most recent order, for 30 planes from Turkey earlier this year, will bring some continued work to the Fort Worth plant through 2011. But final assembly of those aircraft will be performed in Turkey.

Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said the company welcomed the potential sale to Morocco but did not yet know what the production schedule would be.

"Lockheed Martin will be pleased to support the U.S. government in providing F-16 aircraft for the defense of the Kingdom of Morocco," Stout said. "We look forward to the opportunity to work with the Royal Moroccan Air Force to satisfy their defense needs with the most successful multirole fighter in history."

Morocco will buy the most common, recent version of the F-16, very similar to the newest and best operated by the U.S. Air Force, as well as numerous U.S. allies.

The State Department, in the notification to Congress, said the sale would not upset the balance of power in the region and "will contribute to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by enhancing Morocco's capacity to support U.S. efforts in the Global War on Terrorism, as well as supporting Morocco's legitimate need for its own self-defense."