I suspect this has as much to do with maintainers as it does with the fast deteriorating F-15C/D airframes. USAF stated that the decision to retire the A-10 fleet was due to the necessity of retraining technicians and transferring them to the F-35 fleet, but Congress opposed the move if only because the A-10 falls into the same "beloved by the nation" niche as the B-52 and so USAF recanted for another 5 years or another 23 years depending on who you believe. Ditto the insanity that is going on with the M1A2 Abrams which continues to be built on Congressional orders (and special funding) and then moved directly into storage because the army doesn't want or need them.
As for the F-16, small agile fighters never seem to fall out of favour, and General Dynamics certainly made something special all those years ago. US fighter procurement does seem to be in something of a tail spin at the moment with no clear sense of direction but I suspect that Lockheed Martin is currently banging on the doors of the Pentagon with plans for the F-16V in their briefcase. On the other hand Pierre Sprey's advocacy for a stripped out ultra lightweight F-16 optimised for air defense and fitted with the F110-GE-132 engine is interesting, especially if you paired it with the Block 60 for ground missions.
Of course none of this is very 5th Generation........
Last edited by Fonsini; 24th Mar 2017 at 03:12.