The California Air National Guard is trying to get ahead of the impending retirement of the 144th Fighter Wing’s F-16s, once the unit’s fighters “age out,” according to a wing official who spoke with the Associated Press news service. Although DOD did not propose cutting the Fresno-based F-16s during BRAC 2005, the BRAC commission decided to reduce the number from 24 to 18—and those 18 are older model F-16s. California lawmakers also have begun to query the Pentagon about how it will maintain the southwest air defense mission once the Vipers are gone, probably around 2012, according to AP.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.