They did the same thing with a lot of classic fighter jets, including all of the century series and the F-4. (I imagine plenty of F-16s have been used as drones

They did the same thing with a lot of classic fighter jets, including all of the century series and the F-4. (I imagine plenty of F-16s have been used as drones as well.) It's reminiscent of the way you can buy spectacular used luxury cars for a song once they've got a certain amount of wear and miles on the odometer. Maintaining them and accounting for the future cost of repairs makes their value drop precipitously.