The US Air Force says it needs 1,509 combat coded fighters, or jets assigned to combat units, by 2035, with F-35s making up about 40 percent of the fleet, F-22s and their F-47 replacements about 20 percent, and F-15s and F-16s splitting the rest, Defense News reported. Lt. Gen. David Tabor said the figure reflects what regional commanders need at medium risk, that it was not driven by this year’s war with Iran, and that it does not count the 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingmen the service plans to field by 2032. The fiscal 2027 request seeks 62 fighters, against the 72 a year officials have long said the service needs to buy, and Tabor said reaching the goal depends on congressional funding, multiyear contracts now pending in Congress, and Lockheed Martin and Boeing building the jets in time.
Air Force says it needs 1,509 fighters by 2035
The US Air Force says it needs 1,509 combat coded fighters by 2035, with F-35s making up about 40 percent of the fleet, in a force structure report sent to Congress on October 16.
Why it matters: Reaching that fleet depends on Congress funding more fighters than the 62 sought for fiscal 2027 and on Lockheed Martin and Boeing expanding production, while the F-47 is due to replace the F-22 and 500 drone wingmen are planned by 2032.
Data as of Defense News report of October 21, 2026, read in full, reporting the Air Force force structure report sent to Congress on October 16 and Lt. Gen. David Tabor's October 20 Pentagon roundtable remarks as reported by Air and Space Forces Magazine. Single publisher, so this item is single-sourced and graded C. Developing item.
Sources
- US Air Force outlines the fighter fleet it needs by 2035 - Defense News - 2026-10-21