“F-15, F-16 and F-18 aircraft with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, high-capacity datalink, enhanced avionics and the ability to deploy advanced weapons.”
We have these in service now. We need the newer tech in new airframes.
We don’t have many with AESA radars. There is actually an element of sense to this. With good radars and good electronic countermeasures - say as good as what is currently being installed in Arab & Polish & Chilean F-16s - we could extend their useful lifespan by quite a bit.
It is a sad day when foreign fighters can buy off the shelf upgrades in the US that our fighters don’t have...
This assumes you have airframes with lifespan left on them. If not, then I believe the costs would be prohibitive, since new ones aren’t a whole lot cheaper than the F-35 will be.
Jet Jaguar: “We have these in service now. We need the newer tech in new airframes.”
Air superiority is absolutely vital to military success. Our avionics are probably second to none, but anyone who has ever seen a newer MiG outperform an F-15 knows our fighters need an upgrade.