[Just_de_facts]

I was there when the last Air Force F-15E rolled out of building 45 in St. Louis, Serial Number 229, in 2000. Most of those airframes on the E models probably have less than 2000 hours. Here at Lockheed this year we are scheduled to build one or two F-16's this year for the Air Force. There are hundreds, if not thousands of these aircraft at Davis Monthan AFB. They are not timed out, they are just simply waiting to be returned to service as needed.

[Rokke]

The F-16's in the boneyard are A models. They are to the current F-16 what the Apple IIe computer is to today's Mac. Each airframe would need to be gutted from end to end and refitted with new avionics, engines and structural support just to match what we currently fly today. But I would agree that new F-15E and new versions of the F-16 (already in production for foreign customers) would be a suitable alternative to the F-22 until the F-35 can come on line.