Sixteen retired USAF officers joined with the Air & Area Forces Affiliation to concern an open letter to Congress setting out their case opposing U.S. Authorities navy spending plans.
Proposals included within the Pentagon’s 2026 funds which might have seen a discount within the variety of F-35s procured, in addition to the whole cancellation of the U.S. Air Drive’s E-7 Wedgetail orders, have been sharply opposed by a bunch of retired senior USAF officers. Of their open letter, which was written on behalf of the Air & Area Forces Affiliation’s 125,773 members, they are saying that they “consider such reductions will severely and unnecessarily undermine our service members’ means to discourage, and if obligatory, prevail in future conflicts consider such reductions will severely and unnecessarily undermine our service members’ means to discourage, and if obligatory, prevail in future conflicts.”
Among the many retired officers listed as signatures to the letter are former commanders of the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Air Drive World Strike Command (AFGSC), and Air Fight Command (ACC). Six signatories are former Chiefs of Employees of the U.S. Air Drive and two beforehand held the NATO place of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR).
AFA leaders and the previous four-stars argue that present budgets are inadequate given the continuing requirement to area 1,763 F-35As to completely equip the Air Drive to fulfill the Nationwide Protection Technique.MORE: #USAF #Airman #AFAinAction pic.twitter.com/Qfm5zFX9qv
— Air & Area Forces Affiliation (@AFA_Air_Space) July 8, 2025
Referring to the proposition of introducing the E-2 Hawkeye into USAF service as a stopgap between the E-3 Sentry and space-based early warning programs, the letter claims that the E-2 plane is unable to correctly fulfill the necessities of theater-wide command and management. In comparison with the E-7’s normal mission crew of ten, with the capability to hold as much as 21 personnel in complete, the E-2 is proscribed by dimension to simply three mission programs operators alongside the 2 pilots.
The officers say that they “have excessive confidence the U.S. Area Drive will develop and deploy a space-based air battle administration system,” however, given the technological and operational complexity of such a system “the timeline to success is unclear”. With the significance of battlespace administration in fashionable warfare, the letter posits that there’s an excessive amount of threat in not buying the E-7 and placing the Air Drive’s capabilities in rising conflicts underneath menace if substitute applied sciences will not be but prepared.
In addition to the E-7, the letter additionally units out an argument in favor of retaining deliberate buys of the F-35 Lightning II at beforehand agreed ranges. We reported on Jun. 11, 2025, that the Division of Protection was in search of to scale back F-35 deliveries over the approaching yr by as much as 50%. With Operation Midnight Hammer contemporary within the minds of many, the letter evokes the mission’s success and highlights the usage of F-35s as a part of the defensive counter air portion of the raid. It additionally notes the intensive use of F-35s in Israel’s strikes in opposition to Iran, which apparently used secret prolonged vary modifications to the plane – now the U.S. Air Drive is in search of its personal exterior gas tanks for his or her F-35s.
“F-35As have been integral to the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, but additionally essential to the Israeli Air Drive’s means to crush Iran’s air defenses and swiftly obtain air superiority over Iran,” the letter states. “Whereas the F-35 has skilled its share of developmental challenges, operationally it has demonstrated spectacularly its decisive warfighting capabilities in fight over Iran.”
Referring on to the rising concern that the Folks’s Republic of China might launch an assault on Taiwan, the letter claims that “time is of the essence”, including that “if battle does come, there might be no extra decisive query than who controls the skies over the Pacific.”
The letter does, nevertheless, word the bizarre transfer by the Home Appropriations Committee in arising with their very own funds proposal in response to an absence of a full funds proposal from the Pentagon. The Committee’s proposal allocates $500 million to the E-7 program, and permits the procurement of 69 F-35s – 42 for the Air Drive. Notably, the proposal would additionally maintain the U-2 in service till subsequent technology capabilities have been matured.
A-10s Nonetheless On The Chopping Block
Neither the Home proposal nor the open letter, although, supply any reprieve for the A-10 Thunderbolt II which can be set to retire early by the tip of 2026. The A-10 has incessantly been within the firing line for budgets, however has been saved by Congressional interventions on a number of events. Although a preferred plane, recognized for its large payload capability and big 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon, the A-10’s utility in fashionable conflicts with excessive threats from superior anti-aircraft programs has lengthy been questioned. For operations in uncontested or low threat airspace, unmanned plane just like the MQ-9 Reaper now far outclass the A-10’s on-station loiter time whereas nonetheless providing precision weapons supply.
Reportedly, one nation has expressed curiosity in buying the Air Drive’s retired A-10s, and it’s apparently not Ukraine. Whereas many have advised the plane can be ideally suited within the nations’ struggle in opposition to the Russian invasion, the menace from Russian plane and anti-air programs would probably place heavy restrictions on how the A-10 – designed for working ‘low and gradual’ might function. Comparable varieties just like the Su-25 Frogfoot have been relegated to launching munitions from a stand-off distance to guard themselves, negating most of the design’s benefits. Nonetheless, for nations concerned in counter-insurgency (COIN) operations the place anti-air menace is minimal to none, the A-10 might supply some use.
