Only a few years ago, the age of so-called fourth-generation fighters appeared to be near its end for the U.S. defense industry. As late as 2017, conventional wisdom pointed to likely production line shutdowns by the end of the decade for the latest versions of 40-year-old designs for Lockheed Martin’s F-16 and Boeing’s F-15 and F/A-18. Even the continued presence of F-15C/Ds and most F-16C/Ds in the U.S. Air Force’s combat fl eet could be plausibly explained as simply a byproduct of the early shutdown in 2012 of Lockheed’s F-22 production line, along with the development delays that postponed and then stretched out the ramp-up of F-35A deliveries.
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