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the deviation was cured. In other cases, the Air Force would
accept the aircraft “as is” but require an adjustment of the
price.
Throughout the performance of Contract 2034, the F-16
underwent significant technological evolution. Aircraft
manufactured later in time included the incorporation of systems
and features that were not available on earlier aircraft. To
distinguish aircraft with different capabilities and
configurations, GENDYN designated each F-16 as belonging to a
particular “block”. The first production F-16's belonged to
Block 1. The higher the block number, the newer and more
sophisticated the aircraft. Design changes within a block of
F-16's sometimes resulted in the designation of “miniblocks”.
Even within miniblocks, however, few F-16's, perhaps only two or
three, were virtually identical.
The aircraft sold to the Air Force under Contract 2034
belonged to Blocks 15, 25, and 30. In Block 15, GENDYN
redesigned certain components of the F-16 to accept the advanced
electronics and avionics systems that were then being developed
under MSIP. The changes that were introduced in Block 15 were so
significant that aircraft manufactured as part of the immediately
preceding Block 10 could not be upgraded to the Block 15
capability. One of the major changes in Block 15 was a redesign
of the F-16's wiring and cooling systems to support a new, more
advanced radar system that was still under development.
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