The Pentagon
Credit: Wiki Commons
By Tony Capaccio
The Defense Department’s proposed $961 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 includes funding to purchase 24 F-35 fighters, 21 new model F-15 jets and two Virginia-class submarines, according to budget documents posted on the website of the department’s comptroller Wednesday evening.
The procurement request, which represents funds for weapons purchases, totals $205 billion or about $31 billion more than what Congress appropriated for this fiscal year.
Among the highlights of the 75-page procurement request:
- $4.7 billion for B-21 stealth bomber production
- 37 Thaad Missiles for $840 million
- 24 Air Force F-35 fighters for $3.5 billion
- 21 F-15EX Fighters for $2.4 billion
- 12 SM-3 Anti-Missile Interceptors for $444 million
- 2 Virginia-class submarines for $7.3 billion
- 1 Columbia-class submarine for $3.9 billion
Bloomberg News previously reported that the request for 24 F-35s is down from the 48 warplanes forecast last year. The proposed cut is significant because the Air Force is the largest customer for the world’s biggest weapons program.
The scaling back of the F-35 request may reflect one way the service is revising its funding for fiscal 2026 to comply with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to reallocate projected US military spending by 8% over the next five years.