The Air Force may be approaching the end of its appetite for new F-16 fighter planes, but Bethesda's Lockheed Martin Corp. continues to develop markets worldwide for the versatile jet.

The company's latest target is Greece, which is shopping for about 60 military aircraft of that type.

Lockheed Martin treated Greek Defense Minister Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos to a Fourth of July tour of the Texas plant where F-16s are made and made a pitch for selling his country the latest version of the plane, which has extra-powerful computers.

The F-16 was introduced in the late 1970s by General Dynamics. The company that is now Lockheed Martin bought General Dynamics in the early 1990s. Over that time span, the F-16 became one of the most popular military fighter planes ever, with sales to countries around the globe.

Most recently, the United Arab Emirates announced plans in May to buy 80 F-16s in a deal valued from $6 billion to $8 billion.

The plane will compete with the Boeing F-15, the French Mirage 2000, the Eurofighter and the Russian Sukhoi-27 for the sale to Greece.

Pub Date: 7/07/98