There’s a “New” American Fighter Called the F-21, But It's Not What You Think (2024)

Lockheed Martin has announced a fighter jet it calls the F-21. The single-seat fighter is packed with missiles, modern sensors, and can engage in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. It’s not exactly “new” though—the rest of the world knows this plane as the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

For years, Lockheed has been lobbying India for a fighter contract in excess of 100 jets. Why? Because it saw a window of opportunity. India traditionally bought its defense tech from the Soviet Union and Russia, but recently, the hugely populous nation has been on a roll buying American military technology, including the P-8 Poseidon and AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

Now, India is seeking a foreign fighter for its air force. There’s stiff competition between Lockheed’s F-16, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Swedish Gripen, French Rafale, European Eurofighter Typhoon, and Russian jets. To break through the logjam, Lockheed decided it needed to upgrade its offering

The latest version of the F-16, officially dubbed the F-16 Block 70, is a thoroughly modern fighter jet. The original F-16 was introduced in the 1970s, but the new jet is a different beast thanks to advanced avionics, the APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, above-wing fuel tanks for increased range, and an automatic ground collision avoidance system. The Block 70 also has a structural service life of 12,000 hours, compared to 4,000 to 8,000 hours for earlier versions of the F-16.

The fact that this upgraded jet is still called an "F-16," however, is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, the F-16 has an excellent reputation and is in service with nearly 30 air forces around the world. On the other hand, well, it's old. Not to worry, though, because Lockheed came up with a marketing solution: Rebrand the plane as the “F-21.” This is not an official designation, but it does help shed the perception of an aging jet.

The “F-21” also has some tricks the Block 70 doesn’t have. Lockheed's promotional video shows the fighter with a remarkable ten missiles—eight medium range, radar-guided AMRAAM missiles plus two AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. The F-21 can be seen carrying a Sniper electro-optical targeting pod, also produced by Lockheed Martin. In service with the U.S. Air Force, the Sniper pod provides HD forward-looking infrared (also known as thermal imaging), a dual mode laser, video data link, and digital data recorder. The F-21 also features an aerial refueling probe for refueling using the drogue system and a huge flat panel co*ckpit display.

India doesn't just want a new fighter. It wants to produce the new fighter locally, which would be a substantial boost to the country’s defense industrial base. Lockheed Martin has offered start up a F-21 factory in India, and India could eventually build planes for future, non-American F-21 customers.

As neat as this new fighter is, you won’t see the U.S. Air Force flying it anytime soon. The Air Force is fully committed to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, and while it might upgrade some existing F-16s in the service to include some technology in the F-21, there is very little chance the service will purchase new F-16s (I mean, F-21s). While the Air Force may in fact buy new F-15X fighters, the new version of the Eagle complements rather than competes with the F-35.