F-15 and F-16 finally being retired?

I was checking a sat image of one of the US mothball/salvage fields and noticed a lot of F-15 and 16's in retirement row along with a lot of A-10's. What are their replacements exactly and are they now being delivered?
pg.photos.yahoo.com...

Well the F-15 Eagle is going to be replaced by the F-22 Raptor as the air superiority fighter since its rather outdated. I'm honestly not sure what role the F-16 played other than an alternative to an F-15...

I still think the F-15 and F-16 are still decent fighters, F-15 for heavy fighters and F-16 for the standard class.

The F-35 JSF is supposed to replace the F-16s and A-10s and in the USN the older F/A-18 Hornets

The F-15 is probably the best all round fighter in the world since the F-4 Phantom although the F-22A Raptors are coming in.

I mentioned the F-4 Phantom becouse it was(or still is) a decent medium class fighter that was the biggest selling NATO fighter since it has great performances and is 'Future Proof' but i think the F-15 is the only fighter that could ever take over its place.

What puzzels me is that many of those retired/scrapyard aircraft would be highly welcomed assets to the US's stauchest allies. Yet they sit in the desert wasting away. Canada and Britian alone could use the cababilities and highly increase their Air Forces. Maybe its the Second hand rule at play here.

[edit on 3-4-2006 by VType]

Originally posted by Browno
I still think the F-15 and F-16 are still decent fighters, F-15 for heavy fighters and F-16 for the standard class.

The F-35 JSF is supposed to replace the F-16s and A-10s and in the USN the older F/A-18 Hornets

The F-15 is probably the best all round fighter in the world since the F-4 Phantom although the F-22A Raptors are coming in.

I mentioned the F-4 Phantom becouse it was(or still is) a decent medium class fighter that was the biggest selling NATO fighter since it has great performances and is 'Future Proof' but i think the F-15 is the only fighter that could ever take over its place.

Exactly what I was going to say...

They're only buying 180 raptors it will only supplement the eagles. Im not sure of the F 16 though .

Originally posted by VType
I was checking a sat image of one of the US mothball/salvage fields and noticed a lot of F-15 and 16's in retirement row along with a lot of A-10's. What are their replacements exactly and are they now being delivered?
pg.photos.yahoo.com...

The more i look at that image and the surrounding area aircraft Im left wondering why
we dont sell those newer aircraft(F-16,F-15,A-10 etc..)? Hell id bet just in that image alone is a about a billion $$$ worth in resale wouldnt you say. Would make sence to me. Especially now that our newest very high tech air /space stuff is coming online.

I couldnt get the link to open, behind a firewall at work, but I imagine its out at the boneyard. All of these AC can be refitted and brought back to active service if needed, they are just in a preservation state.

They're only buying 180 raptors it will only supplement the eagles. Im not sure of the F 16 though .

The F-22A will replace most of the F-15C’s in service, however I think several squadrons will still operate the F-15C for a little longer and the F-15E will still be in service. Recent combat exercises have shown that the Raptor is equivalent to more than 5 Eagles, so you don't need a one to one replacement ratio. Also, most of the retired fighters go into preservation and storage so that if need be they can be rushed back into service. And others are stripped of their parts so that remaining fighters still in service can be maintained and repaired. Also, the F-35 is suppose to replace the F/A-18C, F-16 and some A-10’s, although the Thunderbolt II will remain in service until 2025.

They're not being retired yet. They're going to backstop the F-22s. What you're seeing are the F-15/F-16A/B models that were built in the 70s. They retired those, and replaced the ANG ones with A/B models from the early 80s. As they replace the C/D models with the F-22s they'll rotate them to the ANG and retire the A/Bs that are flying with them now.

[edit on 4/3/2006 by Zaphod58]

likely that they retired but in a full-scale war where their air plane production is low. Perhaps, all this retired fighters will be back at the frontline to kick some ass.

Sorry.. accidentally make 2 posts

[edit on 29-4-2006 by Fredng]

Originally posted by Kacen
I'm honestly not sure what role the F-16 played other than an alternative to an F-15...

The F-15 is an air superiority fighter, i.e. it's only role is shooting down enemy aircraft so that none flies in the air and the US gains air supremacy. The F-16 is a multirole fighter capable of both gaining air superiority and conducting attacks against ground targets.

Originally , the F-16 was a cheap and cheerful `dogfighter` whilst the F-15 was the long range heavy fighter

if you look the original F-16 carried 2 sidewinders on its wingtips - only later did it evolve into a bomb truck

the f-15E is a bomb truck that will not be retired soon - its the second best in its class - the Tornado is the best , and the usaf wanted it , but the `buy american` rule stopped it being bought.

Most foreign nations dont want much of our military stuff without special deals which will gaurantee them at our public debt.

They cannot afford them nor maintain them. They are simply to expensive and complex for most nations.

Zaphod 58 has it correct...the older class airplanes will go to the boneyards for storage or destruction. The newer models will be phased out to the ANG outfits as they are replaced with newer models of planes coming off the factory assembly lines.

I hate to see the A10s go like that ...they are really tough airplanes with specific mission capabilities/attributes.

THanks,
Orangetom

F16/F18/A10 will eventually be replaced by the comming F35

F15 will be replaced by F22

there are also rumors about the new comming bomers and spy planes

those will be the US' new generation of military aircrafts

Originally posted by Harlequin
the f-15E is a bomb truck that will not be retired soon - its the second best in its class - the Tornado is the best , and the usaf wanted it , but the `buy american` rule stopped it being bought.

Some source for this claim? I don't think Tornado is better than Strike Eagle, atill USAF had F-111, which was bigger and more capable than Tornado, so no need to buy Panavia plane.

The F-111 was also a PIG. And I don't mean the fact that they called them the Aarvark either. When it flew, good airplane. When it wasn't flying, it was being worked on constantly. It was a maintenance hog for its entire life.

The AMARC facility in Arizona is the most cost efficient government organization in the US.

Aircraft are not just stored there, they are refurbished and cannibalized for spares which are in turn sold to friendly governments, I believe last years sales totalled $1.8Bn

There is even an A-10 production line located there which is responsible for performing wing center box reconstruction as this is a common failure point for cracking in the Warthog's frame.

Following 9/11 AMARC withdrew the availability of detailed inventory listings from its website for some unknown reason. But the facility's most numerous type is still the F-4, of which it currently has over 600 in storage waiting for the call back to squadron service/cannibalization/conversion to QF-4 drones.

I wonder if they would let me have one of the old F-4Cs for free. 600+ Phantom IIs drool, drool.

As I live just 2 hours drive away, the AMARC facility tour is on my list of things to do when the weather gets cooler.

As for one F-22A equalling 5 F-15s, I'd like to see it be in 5 different places at the same time, that would be a neat trick.

As the F-15s and F-16s get older and the F-22A and F-35s get more expensive, I think the Air Force will start to have a serious reduction in the number of operational squadrons. I see a big gap in less than 10 years.

PS - Interesting sidenote, the new projected end of service life date for the remaining B-52 fleet is 2040, by which time the type will have been in service for over 80 years, the equivalent of the Sopwith Camel retiring from squadron service in the year 2000.

[edit on 2-8-2006 by Retseh]

Originally posted by Retseh
As for one F-22A equalling 5 F-15s, I'd like to see it be in 5 different places at the same time, that would be a neat trick.

I meant in terms of A2A capability, of course the F-22 can’t be in 5 places at the same time, I believe the AF still says they need 381 F-22’s. If they get that many that's roughly a 1 to 1 replacement for the current F-15C/D fleet, pushing some of the newer Eagles into ANG service would ensue there isn’t a gap. The rest can go to reserve and AMARC.

Originally posted by Retseh
As the F-15s and F-16s get older and the F-22A and F-35s get more expensive, I think the Air Force will start to have a serious reduction in the number of operational squadrons. I see a big gap in less than 10 years.

The F-22 is actually getting less expensive the F-35, well, who know what will happen with that one, right now F-35 projected numbers for the USAF range anywhere from 1,200-1,700. And again the F-15E and A-10 will remain in service until 2025.

[edit on 2-8-2006 by WestPoint23]