The Air Force plans to shrink its total aircraft inventory in fiscal 2025, cutting its plans for new airframes while continuing to retire old platforms. U.S. Air Force officials held a press briefing on March 11 about President Biden’s fiscal 2025 Air Force budget. According to the plan, the service will divest 250 aircraft in FY25, decreasing the total aircraft inventory below 5,000 to 4,903 aircraft. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall stated that this divest would not adversely affect the Force’s current air superiority, global strike, rapid global mobility, command and control, and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. According to the officials, the National Defence Strategy identifies China as the department's pacing challenge and most consequential strategic competitor. This framework guides the president’s Budget Request.
The Fiscal Year 2025 Divestments include F-22 Raptor, HH-60G, F-15C/D, A-10 and many others. The plan, however, indicates that the 32 F-22 will retire, marking the first retirement of this aircraft. Another aircraft is the A-10 Warthog Thunderbolt II. There is a long-going dispute about this aircraft as it is expensive to maintain but also successful for close air support missions. The USAF wants to retire the entire fleet by 2029. The F-35s will replace this mission, and 56 A-10 will be parked for retirement. According to the officials, this policy is part of the Air Force’s modernisation programme, as the divestment plan is worth over $2 billion in savings. In return, the Air Force aims to acquire 42 F-35As and 18 F-15EXs—a total of 60 new fighter jets. The Force will acquire 15 KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft and induct seven T-7A Red Hawk training aircraft for the first time to replace the ageing T-38 fleet. This program will include various aircraft to reach 91 aircraft in total. The Air Force will also retire 32 Raptors for the first time, starting with the oldest F-22s. The Force believes that they are no longer viable in combat, and an upgrade programme is not feasible due to cost and time constraints. The Force will replace the aircraft with the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform.
