The last three of 24 F-16 Block 52 fighters built by Lockheed Martin for the Royal Moroccan Air Force departed the company’s production facility in Fort Worth, Tex., for Morocco, reported South Africa-based defenceWeb. The new-build airplanes left Fort Worth on Aug. 22, according to defenseWeb’s Aug. 29 report. Morocco ordered the two dozen F-16s in 2008. It took delivery of the first four aircraft in August 2011. The F-16s operate from Ben Guerir Air Base, which is located about 36 miles north of Marrakech.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.