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the new jets.
• The Block 40 jets are three to five years newer than the Block 30s. They have a strengthened and lengthened undercarriage, and even though they are heavier than the Block 30s, because the intake on their engines is wider than the intake on a Block 30 F-16, the Block 40 planes can generate greater thrust.
• "It's always about thrust to weight," Walz said.
• More important, the Block 40 and even newer Block 50 F-16s are the planes the Air Force will use as a bridge to the F-35. To even be considered for the new fighter, a Guard unit has to be flying at least Block 40 planes. Even this is no guarantee a unit's long-term fighter mission is assured, Walz said.
• "The Air Force is going to take a certain number of 40s and 50s and upgrade

them, structurally and with software and hardware. Our Block 40s are in the group. But there are more Block 40s than there are going to be upgrades," he said.
• The 114th this week has been putting its new F-16s through their paces in an extensive training exercise for the first time since acquiring them two years ago. On the flight line at Joe Foss Field, the planes that will be flying Saturday and Sunday bristle ominously with ordnance. The 114th's executive officer, Lt.

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