U.S. Air Force Col. Jesse J. Friedel, 35th Fighter Wing commander, steps out of an F-16 Fighting Falcon cockpit after his fini-flight at Misawa Air Base, Japan, June 22, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Leon Redfern)
FARNBOROUGH — The US Air Force has suspended a competition for new ejection seats on its F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets, nearly two years after announcing it would compete a deal that was previously awarded to RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace, Breaking Defense has learned.
The program was paused June 5, and “a comprehensive assessment of operational requirements and acquisition alternatives” is now underway, an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement to Breaking Defense.
Asked whether officials still plan to put a new seat in the F-16, the Air Force spokesperson said, “Future integration plans and deployment timelines will be determined based on the recommendations provided following the conclusion of a comprehensive assessment of operational requirements and acquisition alternative[s].”
Collins won the contract for the Next Generation Ejection Seat program as a sole-source deal in 2019, but after the effort to integrate its ACES 5 seat hit delays, officials decided to review the deal with Collins by querying industry again in August 2024. A few months later, the Air Force formally announced that while it would keep Collins as the supplier for a new ejection seat on the F-15, it would compete the company’s deal for the F-16, and possibly extend a contest to the F-22 and B-1 as well.
