Our current crop of fighters are the top of the line for the foreseeable future.
Not really. Well maybe the JSF will but its not one of our current fighters (and also the plan in the article was to cut in half our JSF purchases).
Well one current figther will. The F-22, its already a current fighter, with over 100 in service.
But if you mean the F-15 and F-16, they are still good fighters, but they are starting to get a bit old. Other fighters are comparable (even if we would win because of better pilots, and probably larger numbers) even now, and in a couple of decades (in some cases much sooner) the fighters will pretty much have physically fallen apart)
The A-10s are being upgraded, we don't need to cancel the F-22 or JSF in order to keep the A-10s going
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A Higher-Tech Hog: The A-10C PE Program
The Precision Engagement modification is the largest single upgrade effort ever undertaken for the USA’s unique A-10 “Warthog” close air support aircraft fleet. when complete, it will give them precision strike capability sooner than planned, combining multiple upgrade requirements into one time and money-saving program rather than executing them as standalone projects. Indeed, the USAF has accelerated the PE program by 9 months as a result of its experiences in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The entire A-10 fleet will be modified over 4-5 years, at an estimated total cost of $420 million. While existing A/OA-10 aircraft continue to outperform technology-packed rivals on the battlefield, this set of upgrades is expected to make them more flexible, and help keep the aircraft current until the fleet’s planned phase-out in 2028. A multi-billion dollar wing replacement program will supplement the technology upgrades, and more technology inserts and structural modifications may be on the way. Overall, an April 2/07 GAO report places the potential total cost of upgrades, refurbishment, and service life extension plans for the A/OA-10 force at up to $4.4 billion...
defenseindustrydaily.com
New wings to secure A-10 longevity
by Tech. Sgt. Russell Wicke
Air Combat Command Public Affairs
5/9/2008 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- New wings are the answer to Air Force concerns on the aging A-10 Thunderbolt II, an airframe flying since 1975.
Air Force officials awarded a contract to Boeing last year requiring 242 new A-10 wings constructed and delivered to depots for installment on the thin-skinned airframes by 2011.
Not all 356 of the Air Force's A-10s require new wings because more than 100 airframes were constructed in the 1980s with "thick skin," giving them a stronger structure, said Master Sgt. Steven Grimes, A-10 maintenance liaison for Air Combat Command.
Those aircraft are rated for 16,000 flying hours, which is estimated to keep them airworthy sometime into 2030, according to Sergeant Grimes. The original thin-skinned A-10s were designed for 8,000 hours and were extended beyond that in the 1990s with depot repairs.
Based on the rate flying hours accumulate, the extension is expected to expire in 2011, which is when the new wings are scheduled to be installed. The new wings will extend the thin-skinned A-10 fleet to 16,000 hours, keeping them flying until about 2030.
Replacing the wings saves the Air Force "a great deal of money over a long period of time," said Lt. Col. Ralph Hansen, ACC A-10 program element monitor and pilot. The value of the Boeing contract is more than $1 billion between 2007 and 2018. Colonel Hansen said that equates to about $4 million per aircraft, a price far below what it would cost to recapitalize the A-10.
"You can't buy a business jet for that price," he said...
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