The Air Force is asking for a 21 percent increase in its Active-Duty operations and maintenance budget in fiscal 2027, including a big boost in spending on flying hours.
The Active Duty O&M budget would rise from $65.8 billion in fiscal 2026 to $79.8 billion next year, according to documents posted by the Defense Department comptroller. The Air Force Reserve’s O&M spending would go from $4.3 billion to $4.8 billion in 2027, a nearly 13 percent increase. And the Air National Guard wants O&M spending to go up 10 percent to more than $8.3 billion.
The proposed budget for the flying hour program calls for spending to grow from $6.1 billion in 2026 to more than $7.4 billion in 2027, which would be a 22 percent increase after a decrease the year prior.
The documents did not say how many additional flying hours such a spending increase would allow, and the Air Force did not immediately respond to a query.
One of the biggest proposed increases within the O&M budget would go to air operations training. The Air Force is asking to boost spending there from nearly $1.8 billion in 2026 to almost $2.8 billion, which would be a 55 percent increase.
The Air Force also asked to double the budget for facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization in 2027, from more than $5.7 billion to nearly $11.5 billion. FSRM, as it is known, is used to renovate existing infrastructure, while military construction funding provides for new buildings and facilities.
Air Force spending to support combatant command requirements—which is included in the service’s O&M budgets—would increase 52 percent in 2027, largely driven by a proposal to nearly triple spending on U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. NORTHCOM and NORAD received $256 million in 2026, and the Air Force is asking for $746 million in 2027.
The proposed budget also calls for increasing spending on U.S. Space Command by 56 percent, from $355 million to $555 million. U.S. Special Operations Command spending would also go up 46 percent, from $29 million to $42 million, under the proposed 2027 budget.
The Air Force wants a 10 percent budget boost for training and recruiting in 2027, from nearly $3.3 billion in 2026 to more than $3.6 billion.
That would help more than double spending on recruit training, from $29 million to more than $70 million. It would also allow the Air Force to boost its flight training budget by $82 million, to more than $1.2 billion, or an 8 percent boost.
The Air Force is asking for a more than 34 percent spending boost for combat-related cyberspace activities, which would bring that budget from $860 million to $1.16 billion.