AURORA, Colo.—Air & Space Forces Magazine caught up with Heather Penney, former F-16 pilot and now a senior fellow with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, at the AFA Warfare Symposium to break down the biggest developments from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin’s keynote address at the conference. Editor-in-Chief Tobias Naegele and Penney discuss Allvin’s call for “more Air Force,” his focus on readiness, and the new designations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones.
Numbers Game Squeezes USAF Fighter Force
Dec. 15, 2025
Congress set the legal floor for how many primary mission aircraft the Air Force had to have in its fighter force in 2018, requiring at least 1,145 fighters through Oct. 1, 2026. In each of the past past two legislative cycles, lawmakers agreed to reduce the number. But when the House passed…
