USAF awards Lockheed Martin $512M to produce eight F-16 jets for Bulgaria

The Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $512 million contract to build eight F-16 fighter jets for Bulgaria -- the latest in a growing list of international customers buying the upgraded Block 70 aircraft, according to a Defense Department notice released Thursday.

The total package the Bulgarian government approved last year, valued at more than $1 billion, also includes support equipment and weapons. The F-16s will replace the NATO ally's fleet of aging Soviet-built MiG-29 jets.

Work on the contract is expected to be completed before February 2027, according to the DOD notice.

Meanwhile, F-16 Block 70 production began at Lockheed's new manufacturing facility in Greenville, SC, in December. Bahrain will be the first country to receive the new fourth-generation fighter jets.