In article 8%0nh.2291$Fs2.1617@trnddc05, "Ski"
wrote:

It is possible to say to Lockheed for instance - how many F-16's would I
need to produce to get a $25 million aircraft off the production line and
there would be an answer - probably around 1000 at 50 / month, but it would
be possible. This is the benefit of having a "line" and "tooling" and
"venders" and "work force" etc... as the production lines dry up these small
essentials fade away and hurt. Many of the original F-16's were produced
with parts that are non-existent today, hence the great upgrade program for
the F-16A that brought C model avionics and more to the European A and B
models essentially died a natural death as the guts of the aircarft ran out
of spares. On the other had, the A/B market "used" has continued so
strongly (Portugal, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and C users
for training machines etc.) commercial suppliers have stepped up and filled
again the needs of the components - so you never know.

One of the major reasons for the A - C upgrade was AMRAAM.
The APG-66 radar was not AMRAAM capable, nor was the F-16's
weapons system. AAMAF it was reported at the time that the
AMRAAMs internal radar had a longer acquisition range than
the APG-66.

Large capability change drives airframe cost and complexity

--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur