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Budget · Combat aircraft

A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft, assigned to the 4th Fighter Squadron, is towed by members of the 34th Fighter Generation Squadron, both assigned to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, May 24, 2025.
Archive photograph · A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft, assigned to the 4th Fighter Squadron, is towed by members of the 34th Fighter Generation Squadron, both assigned to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, May 24, 2025. Tech. Sgt. Daniel Peterson / DVIDS Taken 2025-05-24. public-domain; reuse terms. The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

Defense News: Air Force outlines need for 1,509 combat-coded fighters by 2035

Defense News reports Lt. Gen. David Tabor says the Air Force's fighter goal depends on congressional funding and timely deliveries from Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

· Updated

Defense News reports the Air Force says it needs 1,509 combat-coded fighters by 2035. These are jets assigned to combat units. The service sent its force structure report to Congress Oct. 16.1

Defense News: Air Force fighter request trails stated annual need

Fighter purchases: stated annual need versus fiscal 2027 request

Stated annual purchase need72 fighters
Fiscal 2027 request62 fighters

Reconciliation funding would pay for 14 of the requested F-35s.

Reported by Defense News. As of Oct. 21, 2026.

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The goal requires congressional funding and timely deliveries from Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Lt. Gen. David Tabor said, Defense News reports. Tabor is the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for plans and programs.1

Breaking Defense reports the force structure report itself cites delays tied to F-35 modernization setbacks and F-15EX deliveries postponed by production struggles.2

Breaking Defense reports the requirement reflects moderate risk and uses combat coded total aircraft inventory, including backup and attrition reserve jets. Congress's floor of 1,145 tactical aircraft uses a different measure, primary mission aircraft inventory.2

Defense News reports that Air Force officials have long said the service needs to buy 72 fighters a year. The Air Force's fiscal 2027 request seeks 62. The request counts on $2.34 billion through a reconciliation bill. That would pay for 14 F-35s. If the bill fails, Tabor said, the service could shift money from other programs or push the purchases to 2028.1

Tabor cautioned that the requirement is likely to change with world events, new requirements and new technology, Defense News reports. It excludes Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Tabor said those aircraft could reduce the fighter requirement in future reports but are not yet changing it.1

The Air Force is seeking multiyear contracts for the F-35 and F-15EX, with the request pending in Congress, Defense News reports. Tabor said those agreements would give industry more stability to expand production.1

Clarification, November 1, 2026: We updated a source reference after Breaking Defense revised the wording of its article. Breaking Defense still reports that the 1,509-fighter requirement reflects moderate risk, so the brief's reporting is unchanged.

Sources (2)
  1. Defense News: US Air Force outlines the fighter fleet it needs by 2035 www.defensenews.com
  2. Breaking Defense: Air Force needs 1,509 combat-ready jets by 2035, service tells Congress breakingdefense.com
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Industry · Naval aviation training

SNC exits Navy T-45 replacement competition, Breaking Defense reports

Breaking Defense reports SNC declined to bid under the Navy’s contract structure, leaving Textron’s M-346N as the service’s “one true competitor.”

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has left the Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) competition to replace the T-45 Goshawk, Breaking Defense reported Nov. 3. SNC told the outlet it could not responsibly bid under the current contract structure.1

SNC is no longer competing for the Navy's new training jet

Undergraduate Jet Training System

SNC could not responsibly bid the UJTS [Undergraduate Jet Training System] program under the current contract structure

Textron Aviation Defense, the only known major competitor to SNC, confirmed to Breaking Defense that the firm submitted its offering of the M-346N to the Navy.

Stavatti Aerospace said on Oct. 30 it submitted a bid on UJTS

Reported by Breaking Defense

Sources
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Breaking Defense says SNC’s exit leaves the Navy with “one true competitor”: Textron Aviation Defense, which confirmed to the outlet that it submitted the M-346N. The outlet also reported that Stavatti Aerospace said on Oct. 30 that it submitted a bid.1

SNC said it remains committed to naval jet training and would be ready to re-engage if the approach is revisited. Breaking Defense’s account does not identify the contract terms SNC objected to.1

The competitive field had already narrowed: Lockheed Martin announced in April it would not submit the TF-50N with Korea Aerospace Industries, and Boeing announced its departure in June. In September, Breaking Defense reported that Northrop Grumman was dropping off SNC’s bid, which centered on a clean-sheet design called the Freedom.1

The Navy kept its Oct. 30 proposal deadline, extended from June 30, the program office told the outlet. It now estimates an award between July and the end of September 2027, later than the June 2027 target in its September request for proposals. The service originally planned a March 2027 selection.1

Breaking Defense says the M-346N appears to be the de facto winner, barring a reopened competition or surprise entrant. The program office told the outlet that source selection is underway.1

Sources (1)
  1. Breaking Defense: EXCLUSIVE: SNC pulls out of Navy’s trainer jet competition breakingdefense.com
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Industry · Collaborative combat aircraft

General Atomics adds Spirit Defense as FQ-42 fuselage design-build partner

Spirit Defense, a Boeing company, will support fuselage design and production as General Atomics seeks to scale manufacturing of its Air Force collaborative combat aircraft.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) announced on Oct. 23 a partnership with Spirit Defense to support airframe production of the FQ-42 Vengeance collaborative combat aircraft. Spirit Defense, a Boeing company, will serve as a fuselage design-build partner, supporting the program from design through production.1

Spirit Defense's role is fuselage design-build partner

FQ-42 Vengeance Collaborative Combat Aircraft

Spirit Defensefuselage design-build partnerStated scope

supporting the program from design through production

GA-ASIcontract from the Air Forceactual

In June GA-ASI won a contract from the Air Force to produce FQ-42

Source: GA-ASI, October 23, 2026

Sources
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The partnership follows an initial Air Force order for the FQ-42A, which GA-ASI announced June 17.2 GA-ASI says Spirit Defense offers the manufacturing capacity and industrial depth to scale production faster and reduce the risk of single points of failure.1

Also announced: GA-ASI says it is discussing its Gambit Series with interested international militaries. The family of uncrewed combat jets derives partly from its FQ-42 work.1

The partnership puts Spirit Defense's engineering and manufacturing capabilities behind a program already under an Air Force production contract.1–2 Faster production remains GA-ASI's stated benefit; the announcement provides no delivery schedule or work-share split for Spirit Defense.1

Sources (2)
  1. GA-ASI: GA-ASI Partnering With Spirit Defense For FQ-42 CCA Production (Oct. 23, 2026) www.ga-asi.com
  2. GA-ASI: U.S Air Force Awards GA-ASI Production Contract for FQ-42A CCA (June 17, 2026) www.ga-asi.com
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