Heh. While drafting the above I decided to omit WWII production numbers, such as 18,482 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers (the all time record for a single type), or perhaps more comparable, as long as we're talking heavy bombers:
3,970 B-25s Superfortresses, which we kept using for a long time, along with a B-50 upgrade, 370 units.
384 B-36 Peacemakers.
744 B-52 Stratofortresses (but we actually used them in hot wars).
100 B-1B Lancers, although they were built as stopgaps, and the remaining active fleet of 67 have had their nuclear weapon capability removed.
21 B-2 Spirits, for like the F-22 we stopped production way too early.
Anyway, the problem here is that, someday, we're going to fight a serious hot war again, and these paltry numbers, which will decline due to wear and tear and operational losses won't suffice absent it going nuclear. ALL F-15s built have a nasty problem with a structural defect, what was built was not what was specified (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-15#Structural_defects) ... the F-35 looks like our generation's TFX....
Anyone want to bet the F/A-18F Super Hornet will play the same historical role the F-4 Phantom II?
I don't see a likelihood for any vaguely symmetrical hot war anytime soon. Who would we fight? Russia probably doesn't need fighting, just cut off their trade and wait. China and the US are far too dependent on each other. Europe wants to be buddies with everyone. Nobody else has the capability. If those situations change, by the time they do, I think sending manned aircraft into war zones to get shot at will be an obsolete technique, akin to sending in battleships to fight an enemy navy after the rise of the aircraft carrier. Another couple decades of technological advances will change things a lot.
3,970 B-25s Superfortresses, which we kept using for a long time, along with a B-50 upgrade, 370 units.
384 B-36 Peacemakers.
744 B-52 Stratofortresses (but we actually used them in hot wars).
100 B-1B Lancers, although they were built as stopgaps, and the remaining active fleet of 67 have had their nuclear weapon capability removed.
21 B-2 Spirits, for like the F-22 we stopped production way too early.
Anyway, the problem here is that, someday, we're going to fight a serious hot war again, and these paltry numbers, which will decline due to wear and tear and operational losses won't suffice absent it going nuclear. ALL F-15s built have a nasty problem with a structural defect, what was built was not what was specified (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-15#Structural_defects) ... the F-35 looks like our generation's TFX....
Anyone want to bet the F/A-18F Super Hornet will play the same historical role the F-4 Phantom II?