Quote:
Originally Posted by RN7
Currently the F-15 and the F-16 are still being built for export, so therefore they could still be built for the USAF or newer built in-service models could also be rebuilt and upgraded at the same facilities and I'd say for a lot less money than buying a new F-35.
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I'm under the impression that current production is intermittent and very small batch. I know we do ugrades on existing customers' airframes but don't think we're doing high volume sales of new-build aircraft.
It's also hard to sell new-production of older models of aircraft when...
A. All the cool kids are buying the shiny new F-35.
B. Our former customers are offloading their old F-16s at rock bottom prices. (I think the resale market for F-16s is actually doing better than new sale market).
C. Our rivals and competitors are underselling us with their own offerings (i.e. the SU family, Dasault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon). For example, I just saw some Sukkoi sales material showing South Korea as customer for it's new PAK-50.
Don't get me wrong- I don't building upgraded models of tried and true platforms is a bad idea, I just see it as a really hard sell, both domestically with the politicos and internationally with prospective customers.