A retired F-16 fighter will soon grace the base entrance of the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth. The static display is made possible through the donations of local businesses and community groups, reports Duluth’s WDIO TV news station. The F-16 will be angled to look as if it’s getting ready to take off. Work on the display will begin in a few weeks and is expected to take about two months to finish. The wing operates F-16 Block 50 aircraft, having swapped out its older F-16 Block 25s for the newer airframes.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.