A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing soars over the Sonoran Desert on April 10, 2026, near Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. The Air Force budget request for fiscal 2027 seeks $7.4 billion to buy 38 F-35 fighters. (Belinda Guachun-Chichay/U.S. Air Force)
The Department of the Air Force called for a 38% boost in spending over last year to invest billions more in its fleet while also prioritizing personnel, flying hours, training and large-scale exercises.
“This is not just a budget. It is a deliberate, once in a lifetime push to supercharge our defense industrial base, sharpen our readiness and secure our air and space superiority,” Maj. Gen. Frank R. Verdugo, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for budget, said during a news conference Tuesday.
The proposal is part of the Defense Department’s $1.5 trillion spending ask for fiscal year 2027, which begins Oct. 1. It includes a nearly $2.5 billion jump for the Department of the Air Force in personnel costs to accommodate pay raises that range between 5 and 7% depending on rank.
The increase also allows for growth in the ranks: about 8,900 more active-duty in the Air Force and 1,100 for the Air National Guard. The Reserve would lose about 100 members.
“Our 2027 budget request funds our priorities of readiness, modernization and taking care of our airmen and their families,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach said in a statement. “Looking at readiness, it significantly increases accounts for flying hours, spare parts, munitions, maintenance, and advanced training that reflects the realities of today’s battlefield and tomorrow’s fight.”
The department’s $338.8 billion budget proposal breaks down to $267.7 billion for the Air Force and $71.1 billion to the Space Force.
Within the Air Force’s Operations and Maintenance accounts, it aims to spend $24.8 billion for Weapon System Sustainment and allocates $9.9 billion to the flying hour program at its maximum executable level, which adds 1.1 million flying hours.
Its Research, Development, Test and Evaluation request increases by 50%, bringing it to $98.2 billion. That amount includes $2.9 billion to accelerate the B-21 Raider and $4.5 billion to secure a land-based nuclear mission with the Sentinel program.
The budget proposal also calls for $3 billion to accelerate development of the Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter jet, the F-47.
It also earmarks $7.4 billion to buy 38 F-35 fighters; $1.1 billion for Collaborative Combat Aircraft; $3 billion for 24 F-15EX fighters and $3.9 billion for 15 new KC-46A tankers.
The proposal does not account for Monday’s announcement that the Air Force will slow the retirement of the A-10 Warthog. This year it will retire 19 fewer of the aircraft than originally planned, Verdugo said.
“We are still working through how much that will cost us in [fiscal year] ‘27 and would be postured to, to absorb those costs,” he said.
For the infrastructure to support those aircraft and equipment, the Air Force aims to double its military construction budget to $11.3 billion for about 58 major projects. They include facilities for the T-7 training aircraft, the F-35 and F-47. Funding is also set aside to move U.S. Space Command from a temporary headquarters in Colorado to a permanent home in Huntsville, Ala.
For the junior enlisted, there’s funding to build new dorms at Fort Sam Houston and Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas and Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.
“It’s the Department of the Air Force’s blueprint for decisively funding the capabilities required for air and space superiority, homeland defense, and strategic deterrence, all while taking care of our airmen and guardians,” Verdugo said. “This budget strategically rebuilds our foundations, restores critical capabilities, and makes a monumental investment in the future force.”
