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Us Congress House Bill HB1851

Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1851 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 1851
55 To amend title 10, United States Code, to preserve and recapitalize the
66 fighter aircraft capabilities of the Air Force and its reserve components,
77 and for other purposes.
88 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
99 MARCH5, 2025
1010 Mr. B
1111 ACON(for himself, Mr. CROW, Mr. BERGMAN, Ms. ELFRETH, Mr.
1212 J
1313 AMES, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. HARRISof Maryland, Mr. JOHNSONof South
1414 Dakota, and Mr. H
1515 OYER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
1616 ferred to the Committee on Armed Services
1717 A BILL
1818 To amend title 10, United States Code, to preserve and
1919 recapitalize the fighter aircraft capabilities of the Air
2020 Force and its reserve components, and for other pur-
2121 poses.
2222 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2323 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2424 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2525 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fighter Force Preser-4
2626 vation and Recapitalization Act of 2025’’. 5
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2929 •HR 1851 IH
3030 SEC. 2. MINIMUM NUMBER OF FIGHTER AIRCRAFT IN THE 1
3131 AIR FORCE AND RESERVE COMPONENTS OF 2
3232 THE AIR FORCE. 3
3333 Section 9062(i) of title 10, United Stats Code, is 4
3434 amended— 5
3535 (1) in paragraph (1)— 6
3636 (A) by striking ‘‘During’’ and inserting 7
3737 ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), during’’; 8
3838 (B) by striking ‘‘October 1, 2026’’ and in-9
3939 serting ‘‘October 1, 2030’’; 10
4040 (C) by striking ‘‘1,800’’ and inserting 11
4141 ‘‘1,900’’; and 12
4242 (D) by striking ‘‘1,145’’ and inserting 13
4343 ‘‘1,200’’; 14
4444 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-15
4545 graph (3); 16
4646 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-17
4747 lowing new paragraph (2): 18
4848 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the 19
4949 Secretary of Defense may temporarily reduce the total air-20
5050 craft inventory required by paragraph (1) to enable recapi-21
5151 talization of units transitioning from one combat-coded 22
5252 mission fighter aircraft to a new combat-coded fighter air-23
5353 craft. 24
5454 ‘‘(B) A temporary reduction authorized under sub-25
5555 paragraph (A) shall not— 26
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5959 ‘‘(i) result in less than 1,800 aircraft in the 1
6060 total aircraft inventory of fighter aircraft at any 2
6161 given time; or 3
6262 ‘‘(ii) exceed two years. 4
6363 ‘‘(C)(i) Before authorizing a temporary reduction 5
6464 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Defense shall— 6
6565 ‘‘(I) provide notification to the congressional 7
6666 defense committees; and 8
6767 ‘‘(II) identify in such notification the specific 9
6868 units to be recapitalized. 10
6969 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Defense may satisfy the re-11
7070 quirement for notification under this subparagraph if the 12
7171 Secretary includes such notification in a fiscal-year quar-13
7272 terly report required by subsection (n).’’; and 14
7373 (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para-15
7474 graph (2), by striking ‘‘In this subsection:’’ and all 16
7575 that follows through ‘‘The term ‘primary mission 17
7676 aircraft inventory’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘In this 18
7777 subsection, the term ‘primary mission aircraft inven-19
7878 tory’ means’’. 20
7979 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUS OF TOTAL FIGHTER 21
8080 AIRCRAFT INVENTORY. 22
8181 Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 23
8282 amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at 24
8383 the end the following new subsection: 25
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8686 •HR 1851 IH
8787 ‘‘(n)(1) Not later than 90 days after the date of the 1
8888 enactment of the Fighter Force Preservation and Recapi-2
8989 talization Act of 2025, and at the end of each fiscal-year 3
9090 quarter thereafter through September 30, 2030, the Sec-4
9191 retary of the Air Force shall submit to the congressional 5
9292 defense committees a report describing the status of the 6
9393 total aircraft inventory requirement for fighter aircraft es-7
9494 tablished by subsection (i). 8
9595 ‘‘(2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall in-9
9696 clude the following: 10
9797 ‘‘(A) The overall number of new advanced capa-11
9898 bility fighter aircraft, fifth-generation fighter air-12
9999 craft, and next-generation air dominance fighter air-13
100100 craft received by the Air Force during the fiscal-year 14
101101 quarter covered by the report. 15
102102 ‘‘(B) The mission design series prefix of each 16
103103 airframe received. 17
104104 ‘‘(C) The vendor from which each new fighter 18
105105 aircraft was received. 19
106106 ‘‘(D) The number of new advanced capability 20
107107 fighter aircraft and fifth-generation fighter aircraft 21
108108 assigned to units of the Regular Air Force, the Air 22
109109 Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard during 23
110110 the fiscal-year quarter covered by the report. 24
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114114 ‘‘(E) The distribution ratios of new fighter air-1
115115 craft received from vendors during the fiscal-year 2
116116 covered by the report and assigned to units of the 3
117117 Regular Air Force, the Air Force Reserve, and the 4
118118 Air National Guard, including— 5
119119 ‘‘(i) the percentage of total new advanced 6
120120 capability fighter aircraft and new fifth-genera-7
121121 tion fighter aircraft received that were assigned 8
122122 to each component (Regular Air Force, Air 9
123123 Force Reserve, and Air National Guard); and 10
124124 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of aircraft assigned to 11
125125 each component, disaggregated by mission de-12
126126 sign series prefix. 13
127127 ‘‘(F) The number of legacy capability fighter 14
128128 aircraft retired or divested by the Regular Air Force, 15
129129 the Air Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard 16
130130 during the fiscal-year quarter covered by the report, 17
131131 disaggregated by unit. 18
132132 ‘‘(G) An identification of fighter aircraft units 19
133133 scheduled for recapitalization, including any associ-20
134134 ated authorizations for a temporary reduction in the 21
135135 minimum total aircraft inventory level for fighter 22
136136 aircraft established by subsection (i). 23
137137 ‘‘(H) Any notable trends, issues, or challenges 24
138138 related to the receipt and assignment of new fighter 25
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142142 aircraft during the fiscal-year quarter covered by the 1
143143 report, including any delays, discrepancies, or other 2
144144 factors that may have impacted such receipt or as-3
145145 signment. 4
146146 ‘‘(3) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be 5
147147 submitted in unclassified form, unless the Secretary of the 6
148148 Air Force determines that the inclusion of classified infor-7
149149 mation in the report is necessary, in which case the report 8
150150 may be submitted in classified form or with classified an-9
151151 nexes or sections. 10
152152 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if 11
153153 the Secretary of the Air Force does not submit a report 12
154154 required by paragraph (1) to the congressional defense 13
155155 committees by the deadline established by such paragraph, 14
156156 no funds may be obligated or expended for travel by the 15
157157 Secretary of the Air Force until the report is submitted.’’. 16
158158 SEC. 4. RECAPITALIZATION PRIORITIZATION OF AIR FORCE 17
159159 SERVICE-RETAINED FIGHTER FLEET. 18
160160 Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 19
161161 amended by sections 2 and 3, is further amended by add-20
162162 ing at the end the following new subsection: 21
163163 ‘‘(o)(1) The Secretary of the Air Force shall ensure 22
164164 that for every four new advanced capability fighter air-23
165165 craft, fifth-generation fighter aircraft, and next-generation 24
166166 air dominance fighter aircraft accepted by the Air Force, 25
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170170 not less than three shall be assigned and delivered to a 1
171171 fighter aircraft squadron of the Air Force that— 2
172172 ‘‘(A) exists as of the date of the enactment of 3
173173 the Fighter Force Preservation and Recapitalization 4
174174 Act of 2025; and 5
175175 ‘‘(B) is service retained. 6
176176 ‘‘(2) For each new advanced capability fighter air-7
177177 craft, fifth-generation fighter aircraft, or next-generation 8
178178 air dominance fighter aircraft assigned and delivered to 9
179179 a fighter aircraft squadron under paragraph (1), the Sec-10
180180 retary of the Air Force may retire a legacy capability 11
181181 fighter aircraft from that squadron on a one-for-one 12
182182 basis.’’. 13
183183 SEC. 5. PRESERVATION AND RECAPITALIZATION OF AIR 14
184184 NATIONAL GUARD FIGHTER FLEET. 15
185185 Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 16
186186 amended by sections 2 through 4, is further amended by 17
187187 adding at the end the following new subsection: 18
188188 ‘‘(p)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 19
189189 (3), during the period beginning on December 23, 2024, 20
190190 and ending on October 1, 2030, the Secretary of the Air 21
191191 Force— 22
192192 ‘‘(A) shall maintain not less than 25 fighter air-23
193193 craft squadrons of the Air National Guard, including 24
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197197 the 25 fighter aircraft squadrons of the Air National 1
198198 Guard in existence as of December 23, 2024; and 2
199199 ‘‘(B) may not retire, reduce funding for, or 3
200200 place in a status considered excess to the require-4
201201 ments of the possessing command and awaiting dis-5
202202 position instructions (commonly referred to as ‘XJ’ 6
203203 status) any legacy capability fighter aircraft or fifth- 7
204204 generation fighter aircraft assigned to any of the 25 8
205205 fighter aircraft squadrons of the Air National Guard 9
206206 in existence as of December 23, 2024. 10
207207 ‘‘(2) The prohibition under paragraph (1)(B) shall 11
208208 not apply to individual legacy capability fighter aircraft, 12
209209 advanced capability fighter aircraft, or fifth-generation 13
210210 fighter aircraft that the Secretary of the Air Force deter-14
211211 mines, on a case-by-case basis, to be no longer mission 15
212212 capable and uneconomical to repair because of aircraft ac-16
213213 cidents, mishaps, or excessive material degradation and 17
214214 non-airworthiness status of certain aircraft. 18
215215 ‘‘(3) For each new advanced capability fighter air-19
216216 craft or fifth-generation fighter aircraft assigned and de-20
217217 livered to a fighter aircraft squadron maintained under 21
218218 paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary of the Air Force may re-22
219219 tire a legacy capability fighter aircraft from that squadron 23
220220 on a one-for-one basis. 24
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224224 ‘‘(4) Section 2244a of this title shall not apply to the 1
225225 implementation of this subsection.’’. 2
226226 SEC. 6. ANNUAL RECAPITALIZATION PLAN FOR AIR NA-3
227227 TIONAL GUARD FIGHTER FLEET. 4
228228 Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 5
229229 amended by sections 2 through 5, is further amended by 6
230230 adding at the end the following new subsection: 7
231231 ‘‘(q)(1) The Secretary of the Air Force, in consulta-8
232232 tion with the Director of the Air National Guard, shall 9
233233 annually develop a plan to recapitalize the fighter fleet of 10
234234 the Air National Guard. 11
235235 ‘‘(2) The plan required under paragraph (1) shall— 12
236236 ‘‘(A) identify each of the 25 fighter aircraft 13
237237 squadrons of the Air National Guard in existence on 14
238238 the date of the enactment of this subsection; 15
239239 ‘‘(B) provide a plan for recapitalization of all 16
240240 such squadrons at a similar rate as the fighter air-17
241241 craft squadrons of the active components of the 18
242242 Armed Forces, with the same combination of legacy 19
243243 capability fighter aircraft and advanced capability 20
244244 fighter aircraft found in fighter aircraft squadrons 21
245245 of the active Air Force; 22
246246 ‘‘(C) establish a timetable for a plan or actions 23
247247 for the recapitalization proposed under subpara-24
248248 graph (B) through October 1, 2030, disaggregated 25
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252252 by fighter aircraft squadron and fiscal year, which 1
253253 shall identify funding required for each fiscal year; 2
254254 ‘‘(D) assess budgetary effects on the active 3
255255 components of the Armed Forces if the recapitaliza-4
256256 tion plan proposed under subparagraph (B) were im-5
257257 plemented in accordance with the timeline estab-6
258258 lished under subparagraph (C); 7
259259 ‘‘(E) assess the effects of such plan on the 8
260260 operational readiness and personnel readiness of the 9
261261 active and reserve components of the Armed Forces, 10
262262 including the effects of such plan on the ability of 11
263263 such components to meet steady state and contin-12
264264 gency force presentation and mission requirements 13
265265 of combatant commanders; and 14
266266 ‘‘(F) examine the feasibility of acquiring F–16 15
267267 Block 70 fighter aircraft for the Air National Guard. 16
268268 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than July 1 of each year through 17
269269 July 1, 2030, the Secretary of the Air Force shall submit 18
270270 to the congressional defense committees a report that in-19
271271 cludes the plan required under paragraph (1). 20
272272 ‘‘(B) The report required under subparagraph (A) 21
273273 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 22
274274 a classified annex.’’. 23
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278278 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 1
279279 Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 2
280280 amended by sections 2 through 6, is further amended by 3
281281 adding at the end the following new subsection: 4
282282 ‘‘(r) In this section: 5
283283 ‘‘(1) The term ‘advanced capability fighter air-6
284284 craft’— 7
285285 ‘‘(A) means any new production variant of 8
286286 an airframe type specified in paragraph (4), in-9
287287 cluding— 10
288288 ‘‘(i) the F–16 Block 70/72 and any 11
289289 subsequent block; and 12
290290 ‘‘(ii) the F–15EX and any subsequent 13
291291 variant; and 14
292292 ‘‘(B) does not include a modified or up-15
293293 graded version of a legacy capability fighter air-16
294294 craft. 17
295295 ‘‘(2) The term ‘fifth-generation fighter aircraft’ 18
296296 means an F–22 aircraft or an F–35 aircraft. 19
297297 ‘‘(3) The term ‘fighter aircraft’ means an air-20
298298 craft that— 21
299299 ‘‘(A) is designated by a mission design se-22
300300 ries prefix of F– or A–; 23
301301 ‘‘(B) includes one or two crewmembers on 24
302302 board the aircraft when in operation; and 25
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306306 ‘‘(C)(i) executes single-role or multi-role 1
307307 missions, including air-to-air combat, air-to- 2
308308 ground attack, air interdiction, suppression or 3
309309 destruction of enemy air defenses, close air sup-4
310310 port, strike control and reconnaissance, combat 5
311311 search and rescue support, or airborne forward 6
312312 air control; or 7
313313 ‘‘(ii) operates collaboratively with an 8
314314 uncrewed aircraft operating semi-autonomously 9
315315 in proximity. 10
316316 ‘‘(4) The term ‘legacy capability fighter air-11
317317 craft’ means a pre-fifth-generation fighter aircraft, 12
318318 including— 13
319319 ‘‘(A) an F–16 aircraft, whether pre-block 14
320320 or post-block; 15
321321 ‘‘(B) an F–15C/D/E aircraft; or 16
322322 ‘‘(C) an A–10C aircraft. 17
323323 ‘‘(5) The term ‘next-generation air dominance 18
324324 fighter aircraft’— 19
325325 ‘‘(A) means— 20
326326 ‘‘(i) a sixth-generation fighter aircraft 21
327327 capable of interacting collaboratively with 22
328328 uncrewed aircraft operating semi-autono-23
329329 mously in proximity; or 24
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333333 ‘‘(ii) any other fighter aircraft ref-1
334334 erenced or designated as a sixth-generation 2
335335 airframe; and 3
336336 ‘‘(B) does not include uncrewed fighter- 4
337337 type aircraft. 5
338338 ‘‘(6) The term ‘service retained’, with respect to 6
339339 a fighter aircraft unit or a fighter aircraft, means 7
340340 that the unit or aircraft— 8
341341 ‘‘(A) is controlled by the Regular Air 9
342342 Force, the Air Force Reserve, or the Air Na-10
343343 tional Guard for operational, training, or ad-11
344344 ministrative purposes of the component con-12
345345 cerned; and 13
346346 ‘‘(B) is not assigned to, or under the oper-14
347347 ational control of, a combatant command or 15
348348 joint task force.’’. 16
349349 Æ
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