F-22 replaces the F-15, the F35 replaces the F-16, both orginally built in the early 70's. The third to last generation of F-16's, which make up the majority of the F-16 inventory, were built in the late 80's are nearing the end of life. The newest generation of F-16's were actually sold to other countries, the U.A.E. in particular. We do not have any of them in our inventory.
According to Air Force officials, a minimum of 381 F-22A aircraft are needed to satisfy today's national security requirements. We have 141, which is 7 squadrons. 2 of those are for White house defense. Leaving the other 5 to rotate overseas duty. We are only expected to get 187 and 10 are for parts and some are test planes.. Basically the Air Force will only get one more squadron worth. They are trying to keep another 180 F-15's in the air to augment that number. They have no other choice. It costs lots to keep them airworthy, parts costs will go up, as will the amount of repairs and labor needed to do so. As it is, parts for the F-16's (and likely the F-15's) are in high demand (we had a 3 week wait on simple fire sensor, after 4 weeks down, the aircraft requires re certification by the F.A.A.). High wait times are normal on many simple parts.
While this sounds like a lot, keep in mind, we have two bases in South Korea to staff (80 planes?). We have a base in Alaska that needs to be staffed (another 40 planes most likely). Plus, what is in Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia (anywhere from 80-160 planes). These are just where we have planes in combat zones. We have planes in many other countries as well, augmenting their defense. This doesn't leave many to spare.
You also need people here in the states to relieve those overseas and you need planes to train with. Ideally you really want about 4 or 5 times that at home in training and reserve. If over half our inventory is overseas and on alert it makes life pure hell on troops.
Then there is the aging f-16 fleet, which is in worse shape than that.
Just so people know, just because a plane enters military service, it can be years before they have enough of them, and allow it into a combat zone. It has to prove itself first. It took years for the B1 and B2 to be authorize for warfare and the B2 was rushed. The F-22 was criticized for how fast it was pushed into combat, it was one of the fastest "non-wartime" combat certifications in history. Take a look at the history of the F-111 if you want to see why rushing a plane into combat is bad. So while the F-35 may roll off production lines in 2011, it will be years before it replaces enough F-16's to be viable, and even then it still has to be proven worthy for combat. It could be 2020 before that happens.
Our aircraft replacement program would be behind schedule even without Iraq and Afghanistan. As it is, they are many years behind now.
