Here’s The First Aviano AB’s F-16CM in “Have Glass V” Paint Scheme

David Cenciotti
3 Min Read
The first F-16CM in Have Glass V paint scheme landing at Aviano AB on Jun. 30, 2020. (All images Claudio Tramontin).

The aircraft, serial 90-0709, has just returned home from SABCA Charleroi plant.

On Jun. 30, 2020, the first F-16CM of the 31st Fighter Wing, the airframe 90-0709, assigned to the 510th Fighter Squadron “Buzzards”, has landed at Aviano Air Base, in northeastern Italy.

The aircraft has been given the new Have Glass V, or “Have Glass 5th generation”, the evolution of the standard Have Glass program that saw all the F-16s receiving a two-tone grey color scheme made with a special radar-absorbing paint capable to reduce the aircraft Radar Cross Section. Indeed, all “Vipers” are covered with RAM (Radar Absorbent Material) made of microscopic metal grains that can degrade the radar signature of the aircraft. The Have Glass V is the latest version of the special paint, somehow similar to the one of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that has been applied to U.S. F-16s since at least 2012 when it started to appear on the F-16CM (formerly CJ) Block 50 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

Many Squadrons, including the 64th AGRS (Aggressor Squadron) at Nellis Air Force Base, the South Dakota ANG 175th Fighter Squadron and 85th TES at Eglin AFB, Florida, fly or have flown Vipers painted with the new darker color scheme. Some (as this one from the 149th Fighter Wing, Texas Air National Guard) sport a slightly modified variant of the Have Glass V, with a have a darker radome and the two-letter tail code, serial number and squadron markings black in color, instead of light grey.

The F-16 was given the new paint scheme by SABCA Charleroi plant, Belgium, the company responsible for Depot-level maintenance and upgrade of F-16 aircraft serving with nine different operators around the world. In fact, beside the continuous support to Belgium’s and other European’s F-16 fleets, SABCA ensures the Depot-Level MRO of the USAF F-16 operated in the European theatre.

Another shot of the first F-16CM in Have Glass V paint scheme arriving at Aviano AB from Charleroi on Jun. 30, 2020. (Image credit: Claudio Tramontin).

Aviano AB has hosted its first ever Elephant Walk on Jun. 1, 2020, which included two dozen F-16s belonging to the 510th Fighter Squadron and 555th Fighter Squadron, along with two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters of the 56th Rescue Squadron (plus one acting as a camera ship).



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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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