Luke AFB Ceases F-16 Ops; Now Exclusively F-35s

[system]

For close to a half century, Luke Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nevada, was the main training center for U.S. Air Force F-16 pilots. But on September 30, the last Fighting Falcon training mission closed out that history. The Air Force announced this week that the 56th Fighter Wing has now shifted exclusively to flying F-35A Lightning II combat aircraft. Programs will be updated, infrastructure remodeled, and F-16 support equipment dismantled to make way for the new stealth fighters.

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/last-f-16-mission-at-luke-afb-flown-september-30

[roganderson60]

Wow. Hard to believe the F-16 is 50 years old!!!

[Gipper1]

“Lockheed Martin is working to increase production to four F-16s per month by the end of 2025. The company’s goal is to eventually reach a production rate of 48 F-16s per year.” “Lockheed Martin has a backlog of 135 F-16s for customers worldwide”