Quite how useful 500 Hunters would be in a modern shooting war is difficult to quantify, but it would be a force with some defense in depth through sheer numbers. Today's equivalent would be an aircraft like the Textron Scorpion
There's this little problem that lots of cabs requires lots of (expensive) aircrew and consequent training time. Unless one is signed up to the "autonomy will save the day" theory, which is often (but not exclusively) the product of drinking turps......