What you need to know about the US military’s plans to buy 2,000 new F-35 fighters
The United States is reportedly planning to buy more than 2,500 F-16 fighters, the same number of F-15s and more than a dozen F-22s, according to an unnamed military official.
While the official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the program publicly, the move is expected to boost the F-14 and F-5 jets, which were originally intended for air-to-air combat.
The fighter purchases come amid a new wave of air war.
The Trump administration has proposed increasing the number of US-made F-18 fighter jets to 30 from the current 23.
The president also announced the elimination of a major cost-sharing agreement that had kept the military from buying the Joint Strike Fighter.
But in a recent speech, President Donald Trump said the US should buy at least 20 F-4s and F.E.A.C.F.
F-16s to combat the threat of Russian air defenses.