FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The switch from A-10 thunderbolt jets to f-16 fighting falcons comes almost a year after President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law.

F-16s can locate targets in all weather conditions and detects low flying aircraft in radar ground clutter which proves its superiority over enemy aircraft.

So far only two jets have arrived at the air base as of now, but everyone is excited for this new transition.

By next Christmas, 21 jets will be on the ramp here in Fort Wayne.

Right now, about 10 pilots have been trained already to fly these jets but Commander Joshua Waggoner says it’ll be a team effort getting them up in the air.

Over the next 15 months, approximately 35 pilots and 450 maintainers will be trained to handle the F-16s.

With all the training taking place, it’ll still be a minute before we hear the roar of those jets flying around but we can expect to see some in the air by spring of 2024.