Under Biden’s Defense Budget, the US Air Force Will Continue to Shed Fighters

Under near-$1 trillion spending plan, Air Force will retire 250 warcraft, including many fighters, while purchasing 60 new F-35s/F-15s, down from a planned 72.

A F-15 jet of the U.S. Air Force flies overhead during the 'Dynamic Front 23, the U.S. Army led NATO and Partner integrated annual artillery exercise in Europe, in Grafenwoehr, near Eschenbach, southern Germany, on March 28, 2023. Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s near $1 trillion defense budget request calls on the U.S. Air Force to continue retiring aging warcraft, but long production timelines, as well as a short budget leash, could create gaps in the delivery of their replacements, a “disconnect” being closely watched and potentially anticipated by “near-peer” adversaries Russia and, especially, China.

President Biden unveiled his fiscal year 2025 (FY25) $895.2 billion defense budget request on March 11. Of that, the Department of Defense (DOD) would receive $849.8 billion, which critics, such as House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), say “fails to keep pace with inflation and our adversaries.”