Fighter Force Preservation and Recapitalization Act of 2025
- senate
- house
- president
Last progress March 5, 2025 (9 months ago)
Introduced on March 5, 2025 by Michael Dean Crapo
Sponsors (19)
House Votes
Senate Votes
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Presidential Signature
AI Summary
This bill aims to keep enough fighter jets in the Air Force and Air National Guard while swapping older planes for newer ones. It raises the minimum number of fighter aircraft and extends that requirement through 2030. During upgrades, the Pentagon can briefly dip the total, but not below 1,800 jets and not for more than two years, with notice to Congress . The Air Force must file quarterly reports through 2030 on how many new jets it received, where they went, which older jets were retired, and any delays. If a report is late, the Air Force Secretary’s travel funds are frozen until it’s submitted .
The Air Force has to send most new fighters to existing, service-retained squadrons, and can retire one older jet for each new one delivered to a squadron. This helps modernize while keeping units ready . The Air National Guard must keep at least 25 fighter squadrons through 2030 and can’t cut or retire their fighters unless a plane is beyond repair; one-for-one retirements are allowed when a new jet replaces an old one . Each year, the Air Force must create a plan to refresh the Guard’s fleet at a pace similar to active-duty units, lay out funding and timelines through 2030, assess readiness impacts, and even look at adding F-16 Block 70 aircraft; a report is due by July 1 each year through 2030 . The bill also defines which planes count as “advanced,” “fifth-generation,” and “next-generation,” including models like the F-15EX, F-16 Block 70/72, F-22, and F-35 .
Key points
- Who is affected: Active-duty Air Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve units; communities near fighter bases.
- What changes: Higher minimum fighter jet totals; strong limits on retiring Guard jets; priority to send most new fighters to existing squadrons; one-for-one replacement of old jets with new; detailed quarterly and annual reporting and planning .
- When: Requirements and reports run through 2030; annual Guard recapitalization reports due by July 1 each year through 2030 .