The Air Force wants to get rid of its remaining A-10 Warthogs in fiscal 2026 rather than gradually phase them out, a move the service hopes will open up funding for new weapons that are better suited for a future fight.
The service released its list of proposed retirements after the Pentagon’s unconventional budget rollout last week, which proposes cuts to the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet and funnels more money into the sixth-generation F-47 fighter jet program.
Service officials have long sought to shed their A-10s, but lawmakers have repeatedly saved the plane, which was used for close air support in the Middle East. The Air Force originally planned to get rid of its A-10s by the end of the decade, but the new proposal shifts the timeline to fiscal 2026, a move that will almost certainly be met with resistance in Congress.
In total, the service is asking to retire 340 aircraft in fiscal 2026, including 162 A-10s, 62 F-16C and Ds, 21 F-15Es, 13 F-15C and Ds, 14 KC-135 tankers, three EC-130H electronic warfare aircraft, 14 C-130H cargo planes, 11 HH-60G helicopters, 35 T-1 trainers, 4 UH-1N helicopters, and one B-1 bomber.
The service did not request to jettison any of its older F-22 Raptors this year, after several attempts to retire the Block 20 fighter jets were being blocked by Congress.
Despite the large number of retirements, the service is only asking to buy 45 fighter aircraft in 2026. Air Force officials have repeatedly said they need to buy 72 fighters a year to reverse the decline of its fighter inventory.
But that goal is “not currently achievable,” a service spokesperson said. “We make fighter production decisions based on the funding available and the ability of industry to deliver aircraft.”
The service’s 2026 budget proposal asks to buy 24 F-35s, which is half the number requested last year. It also aims to buy 21 F-15EXs through the reconciliation bill, which has yet to be passed by Congress.
The F-35 decision will maintain “minimum production rates,” increase funding for modernization, and invest $1 billion in spare parts to address sustainment and readiness problems, a Defense Department official said last week. The official added that the cut was not a result of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s 8% budget shift.
The move was the “fastest way” to get the jets in an “up and ready status,” and to make sure there’s enough resources for future upgrades known as Block 4 to stay on timeline, the official said.
As current fighter jet buys dwindle, the service is boosting funding for the future F-47 jet. It asked for $3.5 billion for the program in 2026: $2.6 billion in the base budget, plus $900 million in reconciliation.
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