Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has shifted the Pentagon’s budget toward new priorities, including the B-21 stealth bomber and sixth-generation F-47 fighter—cutting existing programs to help pay for those investments.
US Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin recently confirmed that the service’s F-35 purchases had been deliberately slowed. The decision is based on concerns over the ongoing Block 4 upgrade and the need to buy aircraft possessing “the capability to meet the pacing threat.” Allvin told Defense One that the purchasing pace will increase when the Air Force can buy “F-35s that are most relevant for the fight.”
The Air Force says that limited finances and changing budgetary priorities require complete Block 4 F-35s as opposed to less capable aircraft requiring upgrades which include software, weapons, sensors, and a new processor. Such aircraft are not considered ready for frontline service against a peer adversary without those upgrades.
The Pentagon’s 2026 budget request included only 24 F-35s, down from the target of 72 aircraft per year. The budget request also eliminated the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail program, despite the urging of 19 retired Air Force generals to keep the program. Those officers also called for the full complement of F-35s to be restored.
The Air Force Has Shifting Budget Priorities
But Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has shifted the Pentagon’s budget toward new priorities, including the B-21 stealth bomber and sixth-generation F-47 fighter. The F-35 and E-7 programs were cut to help pay for those investments, with Hegseth telling Congress that cancelling the E-7 was an example of having to make tough choices that come with cutting the defense budget by a reported 8 percent.
The F-35 cutback, however, may be more akin to a cautious choice. Allvin has not been shy about advocating for “more Air Force,” including the B-21, F-47, E-7, and the F-35. But spending scarce funds on aircraft that are supposedly undeployable until retrofitted with the Block 4 upgrades does seem questionable.
The Air Force also seeks to save money by retiring the entire A-10 Warthog fleet in 2026, though the Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed keeping 103 of the 162 operational A-10s. Allvin highlighted the need for Congress to fund the A-10 program as well; if funding does not accompany its mandate to keep the aircraft, a higher priority program in the Pentagon will need to be cut to make up the difference.
The F-35’s “Block 4” Upgrade Keeps Running Into Delays
This isn’t the first delay of its kind. The Air Force stopped taking F-35 deliveries for a full year over software problems with the Block 4’s TR-3 component, described as the “backbone” of the upgrade. Even so, the new aircraft purchased after last July’s resumption only contain a “truncated” version of Block 4. Lockheed Martin says the TR-3 upgrade issues are fixed and the upgrade ready to deploy, but the F-35 Joint Program Office has yet to confirm the claim or approve the upgrade.
Congress is also concerned over the Block 4 delays, saying that planned capabilities have already been reduced. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) characterized the F-35 reductions as a “strategic decision to finally prioritize funding toward, sustainment and modernization,” in an apparent nod to the F-47 project. The Senate Armed Services Committee seems to mostly agree, though it added funding for 10 additional F-35s, bringing the total to 34 aircraft.
Allvin indicated that his call for “more Air Force” was not necessarily about the number of aircraft, but about ensuring the Air Force’s capability to engage and defeat peer or near-peer adversaries. Fewer but more capable aircraft, in this case the F-35s, are preferable to more planes that are less capable. Budgetary concerns, of course, are a significant part of this equation: better capability costs money, but more capable aircraft inherently provide more value as well. Allvin cited the recent “Operation Midnight Hammer,” in which American stealth planes bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities and escaped Iranian airspace unscathed, as an example.
But capability erodes over time and must constantly evolve. The annual budget cycle and accompanying funding priorities are part of that evolution. “The overall arc, I think,” said Allvin, “will prove out that more Air Force is better for the nation.”
About the Author: William Lawson
William Lawson is a military historian focusing on World War II and 20th century conflicts and the American Civil War. His specialty is operational level warfare, especially American amphibious doctrine. He writes on history, politics, and firearms for multiple publications and historical journals. He serves on the editorial advisory board for the Saber & Scroll Journal and Military History Chronicles and is a member of the Society for Military History and the American Historical Association. Lawson is based in Virginia.
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