Great 4 ship !
View attachment 37265
interesting formation "break"!
Great 4 ship !
View attachment 37265
Dang I love the look of the F-15! Sad the AF want to get rid of F-15c/ds and replace with F-16s!! To save money? Sounds like LM has been busy busy with the Lobbying/ bribing
Dang I love the look of the F-15! Sad the AF want to get rid of F-15c/ds and replace with F-16s!! To save money? Sounds like LM has been busy busy with the Lobbying/ bribing
Right surely little idea in more a part of F-15 ANG Fleet ( 136 on 260 F-15C/Ds in 6 FS )have yet the new AESA radar so curious.That's probably not going to happen, this is one of those "off the cuff" brainstorming wonderboy or girl ideas, completely off the wall, worse than culling the A-10s?? The F-15 works very well alongside the F-35, the F-16 while cheaper, will always be less capable.
Really If they wanted to retire F15 The best options would be Either A) Restart the F22 line and do a proper 1 for 1, or B) buy F15SE. F16 is a fine bird don't get me wrong, I hope the USAF keeps F16's around even after F35 goes full operational just for Aggressors. Like this F16 in Russian Shark scheme here. View attachment 37383 You hear the Jaws theme playing? I bet some Eagle Drive at Red Flag did.
I <3 aggressor colors!
But Viper was always meant to be the low fighter for the Eagle's high. And phasing out F15C/D would be phasing out the majority of that high leaving only the ground attack F15E.
So yesterday I voiced my opinion on the claims push for F15C/D retirement but why is there a case for it?
The may still have an undefeated aerial combat record, but the 38-year-old aircraft could be slated for retirement if the U.S. Air Force decides not to fund a major structural life-extension program.
Air Combat Command (ACC) chief Gen. Mike Holmes says it could cost $30-40 million per aircraft to keep the Eagle soaring beyond the late 2020s, including rebuilding the center fuselage section, among other refurbishments. “We’re probably not going to do that,” he tells Aviation Week.
The better answer, he says, is to rapidly begin buying more fighter aircraft, at least 100 per year. That includes ramping up Lightning II output once the low-observable fifth-generation aircraft matures, but also successive purchases of air superiority jets under the service’s new Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA) program.