US Air Force weighs buying new-build F-16s to counter fighter shortfall

The U.S. Air Force is weighing an order for new-built F-16 fighters, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine and Aviation Week, as cited by other outlets. The purchase is being floated as one answer to shortfalls caused by the age of the current fleet.

It follows a Congressional Research Service report released earlier this month, which pointed to a widening gap between the fighters the service has, the force structure it is required by law to maintain, and the larger fleet it plans to field. As of May 2026 the service had 1,098 fighters, 47 fewer than the statutory requirement of 1,145, according to the report.

The idea is not new. Precedents run back to 2021, when Will Roper, then Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, raised the possibility of an F-16 order to operate alongside F-22s, F-35s and F-15EXs. If the plan moves ahead, the aircraft would arrive more than 20 years after the last F-16C was delivered on March 18, 2005.

According to the sources cited, the purchase could involve a new variant called the F-16G, described as an improved version of the Block 70 now in production. Aviation Week reported that the variant could carry conformal fuel tanks, 600-gallon wing tanks, an infrared search and track pod, a Sniper targeting pod and a drag chute.

The current C/D variant is meanwhile being heavily upgraded with new capabilities intended to keep it in service.