F-16 Production Quality Record

In 2003, F-16 production at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant achieved a new record in quality of newly delivered aircraft. During extensive receiving inspections, which usually last a week for each aircraft at the initial base of assignment, the average number of discrepancies found was 0.75 per delivered aircraft. This compares very favorably with the 1.1 rate for the previous year and the 2003 goal of 5.0 per aircraft. The defect rate has continued to improve over the last five years. In addition, fifty percent of the aircraft had zero defects in the 2003 inspections.