Say it isn’t so! Is the F-15C/D really so old it is getting ready for retirement? Well, at least that is what Air Force officials alluded to in statements today during testimony to the House Armed Services Subcommittee. The Air Force is saying that any operational capability lost by this decision would be made up for with the F-16 Falcon.

“The F-15C [has] served our nation well, as have its pilots for decades. And it was our air superiority fighter; now F-22 has taken that role,” said Maj. Gen. Scott D. West, director of current operations and deputy chief of staff for operations for the service at the Pentagon.

“We do have capacity in the F-16C community to recapitalize that radar to serve the same function as the F-15 has done and thereby reduce the different systems that we have to sustain and operate, so that makes it more efficient,” West said about the effort to minimize the number of systems pilots operate. – Military.com

The F-15C is a single seat version while the F-15D models have a tandem seating arrangement. Both entered service in 1979. Many feel the F-15C is one of the best air to air platforms in the world and it is still needed as a highly capable fourth generation fighter aircraft.

Let’s hear your opinions on this. Is it time for the F-15 to fade away into retirement or should we keep it in the arsenal longer?

Featured image of the F-15D by Boeing