[Report by OBS Network, Mountain Cat]
According to a report by the American “Air & Space Forces Magazine” (formerly known as the “Air Force Magazine”) on July 7th, local time, a group of 13 retired U.S. Air Force generals, including six former Air Force Chiefs of Staff and seven other four-star generals, has joined forces with the leadership of the U.S. Air Force and the Space Force Association to call on Congress to triple the number of F-35A aircraft purchased for the Air Force’s fiscal year 2026, and to restore funding for the E-7 “Wedgetail” early warning and control system project currently excluded from the fiscal year 2026 budget.
Based on the budget request document released by the Pentagon at the end of last month, the U.S. Air Force requested the procurement of 24 F-15EX fighters, while the scale of F-35A purchases plummeted from 44 in fiscal year 2025 to 24, and their total count also falls below the annual procurement baseline of 72 needed for fleet modernization as stated by the Air Force.
Earlier this year, before this period, the Pentagon and the U.S. Air Force revealed plans to eliminate the E-7 and replace it with a future “space-based distributed early warning system.” Defense Secretary Hertzberg, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Kearns, and Deputy Secretary of Defense McDonnell have also stated at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last month that E-2D will fill the gap until the “space-based distributed early warning system” is operational.
The Air Force E-7A “Wedgetail” Warn Plane Envision
Six former Air Force Chiefs of Staff, including General Merrill A. McPeak (14th), General Ronald R. Foggum (15th), General Michael E. Ryan (16th), General John P. Johnson (17th), General T. Michael Moores (18th), and General Mark A. Welsh III (20th), along with the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Joint Operations and Commander of the European Allies, General Joseph W. Larson, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for the Air Force and Commander of the Air Combat Command, General John M. Low, the first commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, General Ralph E. Eberhart, the former commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, General Lori J. Robinson, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for the Air Force and Commander of the Air Combat Command, General John D. W. Cole, the former Commander of the Air Combat Command, General Herbert J. Carlisle, and the former Commander of the Global Strikes Command, General Robin Land, questioned the Defense Department’s proposal to procure only 24 F-35A fighters in fiscal year 2026 and cancel the E-7 Warn aircraft. The letter stated that such a reduction in military capabilities would “unnecessarily” weaken the US military’s ability to deter and win future conflicts when global tensions escalate further. Therefore, they requested Congress to approve full procurement of up to 75 F-35A fighters and restore full funding support for the E-7 project.
On the other hand, the House Appropriations Committee and its Defense Subcommittee in the United States have taken some “confrontational” actions. In their proposed 2026 fiscal year defense budget, they included $4.2 billion for the procurement of 42 F-35A aircraft and $500 million for the continued development of E-7.
However, these amounts still fall short for these retired generals and the Air Force Association. The U.S. Air Force still needs to continue purchasing and deploying the initial plan’s 1,763 F-35As to fully meet its national defense strategy. This letter also uses recent Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and the “quick acquisition of air superiority” against the Iranian air defense system as examples to highlight the progress made in the TR-3 upgrade of the F-35, stating that software and hardware upgrades can significantly improve the F-35. These retired generals also questioned the “temporary solution” of replacing E-7 with E-2D, arguing that E-2 cannot meet the requirements for air command and control within theaters because it was not designed for this purpose. E-7, on the other hand, can perform tasks different from those of traditional early warning aircraft, making it crucial in responding to “emergencies” in China. Despite the U.S. Air Force claiming future reliance on space-based solutions, these retired generals expressed their “great confidence” in the development and deployment of space-based systems by the U.S. Space Force, but noted that engineering challenges remain “frightening,” leading to an unclear deployment schedule. Therefore, they “prudently requested” sufficient numbers of E-7 to ensure victory during a “next conflict,” while applauding the House Appropriations Subcommittee version of the bill for its “visionary” approach, urging all parties to invest actual resources to “deploy” E-7 “as soon as possible” according to their request.