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No. Upgrading to next-generation fighters is better than using upgraded old aircraft with new stuff, at least on the front line against a first-class adversary.

Remember WWII when the Japanese A6M Zero was outclassed by F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsairs in the PTO. The IJN decided to stay the course with Zeroes instead and their a$$e$ were whooped by the USN.

If the USAAF did not deploy the P-51 Mustang in ETO, the Third Reich's cities would not have been bombed to ruins and could have enabled the Luftwaffe to deploy the Me262 in large numbers and regain air superiority.

If I were a USAF general, I'd certainly tag along with next-generation fighters and gain air supremacy rather than lose it.

Still overall, if you want to go on a shoestring, bring back the F-4 with upgraded avionics.

Against a first-class adversary, the Rhinos would be mincemeat, unless you're facing MiG-21s.

I guess I sort of look at the situation as like buying a car, just something that has 4 wheels and runs. I need it to take me to work, go shopping, haul stuff, see my friends and go out of town every once in a while. I guess by that definition just about any car will do, a 2010 Ford Taurus will do. However, I can do the same thing in a 1970 Dodge Dart, a 1951 Buick or even a 1928 Model A Ford. Basically a fighter is a flying vehicle suited for air to air combat or ground attack, basically a very mobile platform designed to carry missiles and/or bombs to hit the enemy.

I'd like to know what a 5th generation fighter can do what a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th generation cannot do? It sometimes comes down to where if one guy jumps another and fires first. You're just as dead if you got shot by an F-100 as by an F-22 as true if you take a .30-40 Krag or an M-16. We also have the economic realities too. Can we afford all the F-22's we need? If I was king, I'd say, build them all and then some. However, we are broke as a nation although if it was up to me, I'd cut welfare way down to pay for some of this. Still the economic realities are there and we might have to make older stuff work harder and longer as part of our plan. We do have a conundrum here I'd admit, we can't afford to but we cannot afford not to.

“The IJN decided to stay the course with Zeroes instead and their a$$e$ were whooped by the USN.”

The IJN decided not to deploy its secret jet aircraft and missiles, saving them for the expected US invasion flee, and their a$$e$ were whooped by the USN.