Donald Trump’s claim about ‘plane graveyards’ led to our No. 6 hit of 2016
We rarely got to check a presidential candidate in 2016. Texas wasn’t in play.
But ultimate victor Donald Trump made a claim in Dallas that led to our No. 6 most-clicked fact check from the year.
During a fundraising swing through Texas, Trump ripped into U.S. reliance on outdated aircraft while selling newer technology to allies, telling the crowd:
“Remember, we’re the ones with the jet fighters that are 20 years old that we have to go to graveyards, plane graveyards, to get parts to use on our jet fighters, to have our great young people to fly in planes where they go into junk yards and museums to get parts for current fighters, while our opponents and our so-called allies are buying our planes, and they’ve got the new beautiful versions of them, and we’ve got old planes, I mean literally obsolete planes. It’s not going to happen anymore, folks, ok?”
The comments made us wonder — is the U.S. military really scrounging for parts in junkyards and museums? Are our jets really decades old? And do we sell newer and better planes to our allies while keeping older, inferior versions for ourselves?
Research showed that indeed the government indeed salvages parts for military planes remaining in action and it sells aircraft to militaries abroad. Still, clarification was needed. The described parts salvaging, which can save time and money, doesn’t appear to be misguided and the U.S. also buys new planes for its forces.
