Former Air Force chiefs sound alarm about planned F-35, E-7 cuts

On Monday, more than a dozen retired top Air Force generals — including six former chiefs of staff — released a letter urging Congress to reverse Pentagon plans to kill the E-7 Wedgetail program and slash F-35 procurement.

“On behalf of the Air and Space Forces Association’s 125,773 members, we write to express our alarm at recent proposals to reduce the next fiscal year’s procurement of F-35As to only 24 aircraft and terminate the E-7 Wedgetail program,” the 16 retired general officers said in the letter to the top Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, which was posted on AFA’s website. “During a period of heightened tension throughout the world, we believe such reductions will severely and unnecessarily undermine our service members’ ability to deter, and if necessary, prevail in future conflicts.”

Former Air Force chiefs of staff Gens. Merrill McPeak, Ron Fogleman, Michael Ryan, John Jumper, Michael Moseley and Mark Welsh were among those who signed the letter. Aside from retired Gen. Norton Schwartz, who did not sign the letter, these signatures represent more than a quarter-century of Air Force chiefs, who led the service from late 1990 to summer 2016.

In all, 16 retired four-stars signed the letter, with some adding their names after its initial release Monday, as well as three officials from AFA and the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies who also were general officers.

David Deptula, a retired Air Force three-star general and dean of the Mitchell Institute who signed and helped organize the letter, said in an interview with Defense News that a public letter from so many former Air Force chiefs and other four-star generals has never occurred before.

“It’s long overdue that someone weigh in on the importance of stopping the decline in the size of the Air Force,” Deptula said.

Deptula also called the Pentagon’s plan to scuttle the E-7 “strategically irresponsible.”

The Air Force has long wanted to replace its aging fleet of E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system, or AWACS, with the Wedgetail. The latter is an updated Boeing-made airborne battle management plane. Plans to terminate that program and cut the F-35 buy were included in the Pentagon’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget released in late June.

An Air Force official said at the time that the E-7’s cost increase, concerns over survivability in a contested environment, and “significant delays” led to the Wedgetail program’s cancellation. In its place, the Pentagon plans to get the E-7’s mission done with space-based assets and adding more E-2D Hawkeye planes.

Earlier in June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed skepticism about the E-7 and its survivability in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, and saying the future of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance will be largely space-based.

“It’s our job to fund those new systems and make tough calls,” Hegseth told lawmakers. “The E-7 is an example of that.”

In Monday’s letter, the retired generals strongly pushed back on plans to replace the E-7 with a “stopgap measure” of E-2 Hawkeyes and then, more permanently, with space-based assets.

“The E-2 is unable to meet the combatant command requirements for theater-wide airborne command and control,” the generals said in the letter. “That is not the mission for which it is designed. Additionally, the E-7 can perform missions different from traditional AWACS roles that will be critical to the China contingency.”

The generals said they believe the Space Force will one day field a space-based air battle management system — but there are “daunting” scientific and engineering challenges to overcome, and it’s unclear how long that would take. Deptula estimated it could take decades and said it certainly would not be ready by 2030.

“Since having a robust tracking and battle management system is fundamental to projecting air power and winning conflicts, prudence demands we acquire sufficient numbers of E-7s to prevail when the next conflict unfolds,” they wrote. They also noted the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Turkey and NATO are all either already flying the Wedgetail or have decided to buy it.

Deptula said AWACS planes were a critical part of the mission to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last month, and that the Air Force needs to keep these kind of capabilities.

The generals also said it is vital for the Air Force to rapidly buy enough F-35As to get it to its eventual goal of 1,763 Joint Strike Fighters, and said the jets have recently proven their worth in combat.

“F-35As were integral to the success of Operation Midnight Hammer [the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities], but also crucial to the Israeli Air Force’s ability to crush Iran’s air defenses and swiftly achieve air superiority over Iran,” the generals wrote in the letter.

The generals acknowledged the F-35 has faced challenges in its development, most recently in the delayed rollout of hardware and software upgrades known as Technology Refresh 3, but said those upgrades have greatly improved and that their certifications are nearly done. They urged Congress to not only reverse the Pentagon’s planned F-35A cuts, but increase the jet’s procurement plan and buy 75 in 2026.

Other retired officers who signed the letter include: former vice chiefs of staff Gen. John Loh and Gen. John Corley; former Air Combat Command head Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle; former Air Force Global Strike Command head retired Gen. Robin Rand; former U.S. Northern Command and NORAD heads Gen. Ralph Eberhart and Gen. Lori Robinson; and Gen. Joseph Ralston, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former NATO supreme allied commander.

Retired Lt. Gen. Burt Field, now president and CEO of AFA, and retired Brig. Gen. Bernie Skoch, now AFA’s board chair, also signed the letter. Retired generals Philip Breedlove, also a former NATO supreme allied commander, Kevin Chilton, former head of U.S. Strategic Command, and Lance Lord, former head of Air Force Space Command, were later added to the list of signatories.