The Air Force is working on multiple new cutting-edge programs at the same time—each of which bears an astronomical price tag.
The US Air Force is spending billions of dollars every year to ensure that it prevails against any adversary. For Fiscal Year 2026, the Air Force has requested and is very likely to receive nearly $210 billion from Congress—almost one-fourth of the Pentagon’s proposed trillion-dollar budget.
Yet even with that massive level of spending, the Air Force is falling short—and would need an additional $20 to $30 billion per year to fully deliver on its stated aims, according to a new report by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Air Forces Cost More When the Enemy Can Shoot Back
Following more than 20 years of sustained counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations in the Middle East, the US military has adjusted its focus back to great power competition with near-peer adversaries like China and Russia. This adjustment in mission has brought its own set of challenges and highlighted some issues—particularly budgetary ones.
During its wars in the Middle East, the US military enjoyed total and uncontested air superiority. Special operators, infantrymen, and Marines on the ground knew that if the situation got bad, they could rely on fighter jets, bombers, attack helicopters, and gunships for close air support. But that will not necessarily be the case in a fight against China or Russia—both of which possess potent air defense capabilities, as well as powerful air forces of their own.
China is the only country after the US to field two types of stealth fighter jets, the Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-35. It also has hundreds of fourth-generation fighter jets. Moreover, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has relatively new systems across the board, which might offer an advantage during sustained operations.
And despite its operational shortcomings in Ukraine, the Russian Aerospace Forces continue to be a formidable force with hundreds of aircraft and capable pilots.
To effectively counter these two adversaries, the US military would require billions of dollars of additional funds every year, according to John Venable, Senior Fellow for Airpower Studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Per Venable, a former Air Force officer, the service would need to spend an additional $20 to $30 billion per year to sustain weapon systems, ensure proper maintenance and manning, and buy more and better platforms and munitions.
“We need to start getting healthy as fast as we possibly could, because you can only digest so much, so fast,” Venable said. “That’s for the first year. The years beyond, it’s going to take congressional intervention with much more money in order to get up to 72 F-35s, to get up to 20 B-21s, in order to get up to 20 F-15EXs, and then do all of the other things, with regard to readiness and manpower. It’s going to take another $20 to $30 billion a year. Some of that can come out of RDT&E [discretionary research and development funding], but that other money has got to come from Congress.”
What Does the US Air Force Spend Money On?
The Air Force is working on multiple new cutting-edge programs simultaneously. The F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet procurement is progressing, with the service recently welcoming its 500th F-35. The B-21 Raider strategic bomber program is also an important program that is moving forward. More recently, the Air Force is looking to add scores of F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets to add important firepower to its fighter jet fleet. Finally, there is also the development of the F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet, which the Air Force hopes to field in some capacity by 2030.
Additional funds would also go to improve readiness and renew the fleet. According to Venable, the Air Force’s current fighter jet fleet has an average age of 26 years, compared to the Chinese Air Force’s average of almost nine years. Moreover, the service often struggles to have all of its aircraft ready for combat, with reported mission capability rates as low as 59 percent. Conversely, the PLAAF is thought to have a mission capability rate as high as 90 percent.
As the US military prepares for a future near-peer conflict against great power adversaries, spending more money on air power to ensure victory in the skies is a sound proposition—if an expensive one.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
