The F-16 Fighting Falcon was produced by General Dynamics who became Lockheed who then merged with Martin Marietta to become Lockheed Martin. The F-16 entered service in January 1979 as a multi-role jet fighter that evolved into an all-weather multi-role aircraft capable of sustaining 9-g turns. The F-16 is relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain so the U.S. and 25 other countries added it to their inventory. The Fighting Falcon is referred to by its pilots as the “Viper” and will remain in USAF service until 2025.
Israel holds an annual event called “Blue Flag”, a multi-national exercise uniting aviation teams from other countries to learn and share ideas and procedures plus build international relations. The German Luftwaffe participated in “Exercise Blue Flag” in 2017 and 2019 so they decided to host a similar event called “Exercise Blue Wings 2020”. On August 17, 2020 the IAF sent 6 F-16 Barak fighters from 101 and 105 Squadrons based at Hatzor to the German base at Norvenich. F-16C U.S. 90-0868 IAF 536 was delivered in December 1992.