Retiring fighter jets

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced with his budget proposal this week that he wants to retire 250 of the Air Force's oldest tactical fighter aircraft. That could be F-15s, F-16s or some other aircraft.

Speculation is running amok on this one and I've seen reports claiming that most of those retiring jets would be F-16s and some that said they would be F-15s.

Actually, the F-15s are generally older than F-16s, and the 20 Fighting Falcons (F-16) at Dannelly Field were built in 1987 and 1988.

But, to check it out I called the Pentagon press desk and a spokesman there told me that there won't be any further information on which jets are retired until the defense budget actually passes and the President signs off and a final defense budget isn't expected until May.