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Air Force

USAF Increases F-35 Request, But Number Lags That Required To Meet Combat-Coded Fighter Goal

Frank Wolfe

Monday, April 6th, 2026

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USAF Increases F-35 Request, But Number Lags That Required To Meet Combat-Coded Fighter Goal

Pictured is a U.S. Air Force photo of an F-35A with the 356th Fighter Squadron during take-off at the Arctic Gold 26-1 at Eielson AFB, Alaska on Nov. 18, 2025.

The U.S. Air Force's $4.7 billion fiscal 2027 request for 52 Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35A fighters--14 in a future reconciliation bill and 38 in the regular appropriations bill--would more than double last year's number of 24 F-35As funded by Congress, yet even that ramp up would be about half the rate required for the service to meet a force structure goal. Last fall, the Air Force told Congress in the 24-page Long Term USAF Fighter Force Structure report that the…

Army

Army Relooking At Its ‘Whole Aviation Transformation’ Plan, Acting Chief Tells Lawmakers

The Army is relooking at its “whole aviation transformation initiative,” the service’s acting chief of staff told lawmakers on Tuesday, to include its approach for future procurement of “enduring” platforms. […]

Army

Lawmakers Request DoD Briefing On Army’s Planned Cuts To Aviation Procurement

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has sent a letter asking the Pentagon for a briefing on the potential industrial base impacts as a result of the Army’s planned cuts […]

Congress

CENTCOM Looking To Lessons Learned From Use Of LUCAS Drones

U.S Central Command (CENTCOM) is looking to lessons learned from its use of Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones by Phoenix-based SpektreWorks, according to CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper. […]

Army

Hegseth Says DoD Open To Reviewing Army’s Planned Cuts To Legacy Helicopter Procurement

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told lawmakers the Pentagon is open to reviewing the Army’s planned procurement cuts to its legacy manned aviation fleet. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member […]