Its not just the relative cost of the aircraft. Its maintaining a fleet of aging aircraft and a stream of pilots trained in the type. Add to that the increase in effectiveness of MANPADS and the USAF doesn’t think any aircraft can survive at low levels....
Not saying I buy any of this but that’s closer to the complete argument for retirement of the Hog.
This is the argument for down streaming the plane to National Guard units. And for cannibalizing some of them to maintain others.
We must have several thousand serviceable fighter planes to meet our worldwide demands. Without low cost planes in the mix, this means the bill will be astronomical.
The F-35 has a lot of limitations in range, payload and maneuver to gain stealth. Even so, Germans flying the Eurofighter have done well against the F-35.