Political and civic leaders from the Upstate and South Carolina gathered Tuesday to celebrate a new F-16 production line.

The ribbon cutting ceremony at Lockheed Martin, in Greenville, marks the completion of the company's new line.

Special guests included U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Gov. Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC), William Timmons (R-SC) and Jeff Duncan, (R-SC).

Lockheed Martin announced the move of its F-16 production line from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville in 2017.

"Today, we mark the beginning of a new chapter, building the most advanced fourth generation fighter ever," Lockheed Martin Greenville general manager Mike Fox said.

The move will create as many as 400 new jobs and delivered new production F-16 aircraft to international customers, the company said.

"The F-16s manufactured in Greenville will be the newest and most advanced F-16 production configuration ever offered, combining numerous capability and structural upgrades," the company said in a release.

The aircraft will be for international customers, starting with the Kingdom of Bahrain, which became the first F-16 Block 70 customer in June 2018.

“It’s going to make America safer," Graham said. "My goal is to deter war, and the best way to deter war is to have an overwhelming presence and allies that can project force.”

Slovakia has also announced its selection of the F-16 Block 70 for the Slovak Air Force, and the company is in discussions with numerous other potential customers.