The Pentagon has now committed to funding the E-7A Wedgetail in its 2027 budget request after previously zeroing out its spending.
Budget
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.
The Air Force’s BACN may be cooked—the service plans to retire its entire E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node fleet in fiscal 2028 and equip aircraft to use satellite communications instead.
Fresh off the first combat deployment of its new EA-37B, the Air Force is nearly doubling the planned number of new electronic attack jets and projecting more than $3 billion in spending on the program in the next five years.
The Air Force is planning to spend $2.19 billion over the next five years to acquire new C-37 jets for transporting military and civilian leaders. That’s on top of another $1.17 billion in projected funding for the VC-25B “Air Force One” replacement.
Research and development spending on the Air Force’s sixth-generation F-47 fighter and its advanced propulsion system is expected to peak in 2028 before dropping in the following years, according to Air Force budget documents.
The Pentagon is counting on Congress to navigate a legislative tightrope and pass a party-line bill to fund nearly a quarter of its $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027, including billions of dollars for top priorities like Golden Dome, the F-35, munitions, and unmanned ...
The Air Force wants to replace at least some of the aircraft it has lost during Operation Epic Fury against Iran through a supplemental budget request to Congress, Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach indicated April 30.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told lawmakers April 30 that the Pentagon should consider buying “a lot more” B-21 Raider next-generation stealth bombers, signaling top-level interest in expanding the official program of record for the aircraft.