The Air Force Wants to Kill Old F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s: Part 2
It's time to clear out for the next generation of fighter jets.
By Kyle Mizokami
May 18, 2021
The F-35A is proving more expensive to fly than anticipated, forcing the Air Force to consider supplementing it with a cheaper new fighter.
This is the second part to The Air Force Wants to Kill Old F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s.
Typically, old jets and brand-new jets cost a lot of money to fly, while newer jets cost the least. The Air Force, as the average age of the fleet suggests, has many old fighters. The F-35 is (relatively) new, but still costs a whopping $33,000 an hour to fly—well above the $25,000 an hour target set for 2025. The Air Force doesn’t sound all that hopeful it will reach $25,000, either.
Finally, if the service wants those two brand-new fighters, NGAD and MR-X, in the 2030s, it will need the money to properly develop them.
One possible problem? A reduction in fighter numbers could add a new loop in a long, gradual “death spiral.” A new reduction, coupled with the reduction of the 2010s, would shrink the Air Force’s fighter fleet by 350 planes over 15 years.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a36460392/air-force-downsize-fighter-jet-fleet-part-2/
