The F-16 painted to commemorate the 31st Tiger Squadron of the Belgian Air Component’s 70th anniversary

Our F-16 2021 XTM X-Tiger is now prepared to stalk the skies in an XT-ROAR-DINARY paint for a special event

These awesome images of the new Belgian Air Component “Tiger” F-16 were taken on July 20, 2021, by Andrew Timmerman of Finn Aviation Photography. The aircraft, known as the 2021 XTM X-Tiger, is part of the 31st Tiger Squadron, which is headquartered at Kleine-Brogel Air Base.

“On Friday, July 16, at 10 am, the freshly painted FA-136 “X-Tiger” took to the skies,” reports 31TIGERSQN.BE. Johan Wolfs’ design was carried out by the KeeBee paintshop and plotter section.

“An XT-ROAR-DINARY paint for an extraordinary event, our 2021 XTM X-Tiger is now ready to prowl the skies.”

Timmerman said that the ‘31st Tiger Squadron has been active since 1st October 1951 and they are celebrating their 70th anniversary this year. There will be a special X tiger event that will be held from the 7th-14th of September this year and is also the weekend of the International Sanicole Airshow. Will be several participating members of the NATO Tiger Association joining the exercise so can be sure of some special things for the airshow.’

An F-16 with a specially painted tail was unveiled in October of 2021 by the Belgian Air Component to commemorate 45 years of the Multi-National Fighter Program (MNFP). After the agreement by Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway (the so-called European Participating Governments, EPG), to purchase the F-16, the MNFP was established in June 1975.

Several nations clearly acknowledged the need for new fighter aircraft. The NATO requirement had to be met at the same time, which encouraged these air forces to use a single aircraft. The F-16 multinational aircraft program was started by the EPG’s decision to purchase the F-16 air combat fighter in June 1975. While the European governments purchasing the F-16s are known as the EPG, the air forces flying and maintaining the aircraft are part of the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF).

The USAF’s 1972 Lightweight Fighter prototype program, which attempted to develop a small, cheap, high-performance, air superiority day fighter, gave rise to the F-16.

The EPG had a significant impact in transforming the Lightweight Fighter Program into a significant, multi-faceted acquisition program. The decision to purchase the F-16 made good financial sense because the four EPG nations—Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway—were solid NATO allies of the US and sought to update their F-104G Starfighter interceptor.