The U.S. Air Force is operating below the congressional minimum for fighters, with 1,098 aircraft in its primary mission inventory against the statutory floor of 1,145. The shortfall, reported to Congress on 5 May, leaves the service 47 jets under the legal threshold while it pushes for a much larger future combat fleet.
The gap sits under Title 10, Section 9062, which also sets a broader total fighter inventory requirement. Air Force planning has moved toward a combat-coded force of 1,271 fighters in fiscal 2026 and 1,304 by fiscal 2030, well above today’s PMAI level but still short of the statutory floor.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink notified lawmakers of the inventory count as Congress continues to examine retirement choices, procurement rates and budget priorities across the fighter portfolio. The issue is especially relevant for the F-35 and F-15EX programmes, both central to the service’s effort to rebuild force structure while meeting longer-term targets that reach 1,558 combat-coded fighters by 2035.