II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 873
To amend title 10, United States Code, to preserve and recapitalize the
fighter aircraft capabilities of the Air Force and its reserve components,
and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH5, 2025
Mr. C
RAPO(for himself, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. KELLY, Mr.
B
ANKS, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. SCOTTof Florida, Mr. PETERS, Mr. YOUNG,
Ms. A
LSOBROOKS, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr.
B
ENNET, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Armed Services
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to preserve and
recapitalize the fighter aircraft capabilities of the Air
Force and its reserve components, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fighter Force Preser-4
vation and Recapitalization Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. MINIMUM NUMBER OF FIGHTER AIRCRAFT IN THE 1
AIR FORCE AND RESERVE COMPONENTS OF 2
THE AIR FORCE. 3
Section 9062(i) of title 10, United States Code, is 4
amended— 5
(1) in paragraph (1)— 6
(A) by striking ‘‘During’’ and inserting 7
‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), during’’; 8
(B) by striking ‘‘October 1, 2026’’ and in-9
serting ‘‘October 1, 2030’’; 10
(C) by striking ‘‘1,800’’ and inserting 11
‘‘1,900’’; and 12
(D) by striking ‘‘1,145’’ and inserting 13
‘‘1,200’’; 14
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-15
graph (3); and 16
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-17
lowing new paragraph (2): 18
‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the 19
Secretary of Defense may temporarily reduce the total air-20
craft inventory required by paragraph (1) to enable recapi-21
talization of units transitioning from one combat-coded 22
mission fighter aircraft to a new combat-coded fighter air-23
craft. 24
‘‘(B) A temporary reduction authorized under sub-25
paragraph (A) shall not— 26
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‘‘(i) result in less than 1,800 aircraft in the 1
total aircraft inventory of fighter aircraft at any 2
given time; or 3
‘‘(ii) exceed two years. 4
‘‘(C)(i) Before authorizing a temporary reduction 5
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Defense shall— 6
‘‘(I) provide notification to the congressional 7
defense committees; and 8
‘‘(II) identify in such notification the specific 9
units to be recapitalized. 10
‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Defense may satisfy the re-11
quirement for notification under this subparagraph if the 12
Secretary includes such notification in a fiscal-year quar-13
terly report required by subsection (n).’’; and 14
(4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para-15
graph (2), by striking ‘‘In this subsection:’’ and all 16
that follows through ‘‘The term ‘primary mission 17
aircraft inventory’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘In this 18
subsection, the term ‘primary mission aircraft inven-19
tory’ means’’. 20
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUS OF TOTAL FIGHTER 21
AIRCRAFT INVENTORY. 22
Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 23
amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at 24
the end the following new subsection: 25
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‘‘(n)(1) Not later than 90 days after the date of the 1
enactment of the Fighter Force Preservation and Recapi-2
talization Act of 2025, and at the end of each fiscal-year 3
quarter thereafter through September 30, 2030, the Sec-4
retary of the Air Force shall submit to the congressional 5
defense committees a report describing the status of the 6
total aircraft inventory requirement for fighter aircraft es-7
tablished by subsection (i). 8
‘‘(2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall in-9
clude the following: 10
‘‘(A) The overall number of new advanced capa-11
bility fighter aircraft, fifth-generation fighter air-12
craft, and next-generation air dominance fighter air-13
craft received by the Air Force during the fiscal-year 14
quarter covered by the report. 15
‘‘(B) The mission design series prefix of each 16
airframe received. 17
‘‘(C) The vendor from which each new fighter 18
aircraft was received. 19
‘‘(D) The number of new advanced capability 20
fighter aircraft and fifth-generation fighter aircraft 21
assigned to units of the Regular Air Force, the Air 22
Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard during 23
the fiscal-year quarter covered by the report. 24
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‘‘(E) The distribution ratios of new fighter air-1
craft received from vendors during the fiscal-year 2
covered by the report and assigned to units of the 3
Regular Air Force, the Air Force Reserve, and the 4
Air National Guard, including— 5
‘‘(i) the percentage of total new advanced 6
capability fighter aircraft and new fifth-genera-7
tion fighter aircraft received that were assigned 8
to each component (Regular Air Force, Air 9
Force Reserve, and Air National Guard); and 10
‘‘(ii) the percentage of aircraft assigned to 11
each component, disaggregated by mission de-12
sign series prefix. 13
‘‘(F) The number of legacy capability fighter 14
aircraft retired or divested by the Regular Air Force, 15
the Air Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard 16
during the fiscal-year quarter covered by the report, 17
disaggregated by unit. 18
‘‘(G) An identification of fighter aircraft units 19
scheduled for recapitalization, including any associ-20
ated authorizations for a temporary reduction in the 21
minimum total aircraft inventory level for fighter 22
aircraft established by subsection (i). 23
‘‘(H) Any notable trends, issues, or challenges 24
related to the receipt and assignment of new fighter 25
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aircraft during the fiscal-year quarter covered by the 1
report, including any delays, discrepancies, or other 2
factors that may have impacted such receipt or as-3
signment. 4
‘‘(3) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be 5
submitted in unclassified form, unless the Secretary of the 6
Air Force determines that the inclusion of classified infor-7
mation in the report is necessary, in which case the report 8
may be submitted in classified form or with classified an-9
nexes or sections. 10
‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if 11
the Secretary of the Air Force does not submit a report 12
required by paragraph (1) to the congressional defense 13
committees by the deadline established by such paragraph, 14
no funds may be obligated or expended for travel by the 15
Secretary of the Air Force until the report is submitted.’’. 16
SEC. 4. RECAPITALIZATION PRIORITIZATION OF AIR FORCE 17
SERVICE-RETAINED FIGHTER FLEET. 18
Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 19
amended by sections 2 and 3, is further amended by add-20
ing at the end the following new subsection: 21
‘‘(o)(1) The Secretary of the Air Force shall ensure 22
that for every four new advanced capability fighter air-23
craft, fifth-generation fighter aircraft, and next-generation 24
air dominance fighter aircraft accepted by the Air Force, 25
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not less than three shall be assigned and delivered to a 1
fighter aircraft squadron of the Air Force that— 2
‘‘(A) exists as of the date of the enactment of 3
the Fighter Force Preservation and Recapitalization 4
Act of 2025; and 5
‘‘(B) is service retained. 6
‘‘(2) For each new advanced capability fighter air-7
craft, fifth-generation fighter aircraft, or next-generation 8
air dominance fighter aircraft assigned and delivered to 9
a fighter aircraft squadron under paragraph (1), the Sec-10
retary of the Air Force may retire a legacy capability 11
fighter aircraft from that squadron on a one-for-one 12
basis.’’. 13
SEC. 5. PRESERVATION AND RECAPITALIZATION OF AIR 14
NATIONAL GUARD FIGHTER FLEET. 15
Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 16
amended by sections 2 through 4, is further amended by 17
adding at the end the following new subsection: 18
‘‘(p)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 19
(3), during the period beginning on December 23, 2024, 20
and ending on October 1, 2030, the Secretary of the Air 21
Force— 22
‘‘(A) shall maintain not less than 25 fighter air-23
craft squadrons of the Air National Guard, including 24
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the 25 fighter aircraft squadrons of the Air National 1
Guard in existence as of December 23, 2024; and 2
‘‘(B) may not retire, reduce funding for, or 3
place in a status considered excess to the require-4
ments of the possessing command and awaiting dis-5
position instructions (commonly referred to as ‘XJ’ 6
status) any legacy capability fighter aircraft or fifth- 7
generation fighter aircraft assigned to any of the 25 8
fighter aircraft squadrons of the Air National Guard 9
in existence as of December 23, 2024. 10
‘‘(2) The prohibition under paragraph (1)(B) shall 11
not apply to individual legacy capability fighter aircraft, 12
advanced capability fighter aircraft, or fifth-generation 13
fighter aircraft that the Secretary of the Air Force deter-14
mines, on a case-by-case basis, to be no longer mission 15
capable and uneconomical to repair because of aircraft ac-16
cidents, mishaps, or excessive material degradation and 17
non-airworthiness status of certain aircraft. 18
‘‘(3) For each new advanced capability fighter air-19
craft or fifth-generation fighter aircraft assigned and de-20
livered to a fighter aircraft squadron maintained under 21
paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary of the Air Force may re-22
tire a legacy capability fighter aircraft from that squadron 23
on a one-for-one basis. 24
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‘‘(4) Section 2244a of this title shall not apply to the 1
implementation of this subsection.’’. 2
SEC. 6. ANNUAL RECAPITALIZATION PLAN FOR AIR NA-3
TIONAL GUARD FIGHTER FLEET. 4
Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 5
amended by sections 2 through 5, is further amended by 6
adding at the end the following new subsection: 7
‘‘(q)(1) The Secretary of the Air Force, in consulta-8
tion with the Director of the Air National Guard, shall 9
annually develop a plan to recapitalize the fighter fleet of 10
the Air National Guard. 11
‘‘(2) The plan required under paragraph (1) shall— 12
‘‘(A) identify each of the 25 fighter aircraft 13
squadrons of the Air National Guard in existence on 14
the date of the enactment of this Act; 15
‘‘(B) provide a plan for recapitalization of all 16
such squadrons at a similar rate as the fighter air-17
craft squadrons of the active components of the 18
Armed Forces, with the same combination of legacy 19
capability fighter aircraft and advanced capability 20
fighter aircraft found in fighter aircraft squadrons 21
of the active Air Force; 22
‘‘(C) establish a timetable for a plan or actions 23
for the recapitalization proposed under subpara-24
graph (B) through October 1, 2030, disaggregated 25
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by fighter aircraft squadron and fiscal year, which 1
shall identify funding required for each fiscal year; 2
‘‘(D) assess budgetary effects on the active 3
components of the Armed Forces if the recapitaliza-4
tion plan proposed under subparagraph (B) were im-5
plemented in accordance with the timeline estab-6
lished under subparagraph (C); 7
‘‘(E) assess the effects of such plan on the 8
operational readiness and personnel readiness of the 9
active and reserve components of the Armed Forces, 10
including the effects of such plan on the ability of 11
such components to meet steady state and contin-12
gency force presentation and mission requirements 13
of combatant commanders; and 14
‘‘(F) examine the feasibility of acquiring F–16 15
Block 70 fighter aircraft for the Air National Guard. 16
‘‘(3)(A) Not later than July 1 of each year through 17
July 1, 2030, the Secretary of the Air Force shall submit 18
to the congressional defense committees a report that in-19
cludes the plan required under paragraph (1). 20
‘‘(B) The report required under subparagraph (A) 21
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 22
a classified annex.’’. 23
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SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 1
Section 9062 of title 10, United States Code, as 2
amended by sections 2 through 6, is further amended by 3
adding at the end the following new subsection: 4
‘‘(r) In this section: 5
‘‘(1) The term ‘advanced capability fighter air-6
craft’— 7
‘‘(A) means any new production variant of 8
an airframe type specified in paragraph (4), in-9
cluding— 10
‘‘(i) the F–16 Block 70/72 and any 11
subsequent block; and 12
‘‘(ii) the F–15EX and any subsequent 13
variant; and 14
‘‘(B) does not include a modified or up-15
graded version of a legacy capability fighter air-16
craft. 17
‘‘(2) The term ‘fifth-generation fighter aircraft’ 18
means an F–22 aircraft or an F–35 aircraft. 19
‘‘(3) The term ‘fighter aircraft’ means an air-20
craft that— 21
‘‘(A) is designated by a mission design se-22
ries prefix of F– or A–; 23
‘‘(B) includes one or two crewmembers on 24
board the aircraft when in operation; and 25
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‘‘(C)(i) executes single-role or multi-role 1
missions, including air-to-air combat, air-to- 2
ground attack, air interdiction, suppression or 3
destruction of enemy air defenses, close air sup-4
port, strike control and reconnaissance, combat 5
search and rescue support, or airborne forward 6
air control; or 7
‘‘(ii) operates collaboratively with an 8
uncrewed aircraft operating semi-autonomously 9
in proximity. 10
‘‘(4) The term ‘legacy capability fighter air-11
craft’ means a pre-fifth-generation fighter aircraft, 12
including— 13
‘‘(A) an F–16 aircraft, whether pre-block 14
or post-block; 15
‘‘(B) an F–15C/D/E aircraft; or 16
‘‘(C) an A–10C aircraft. 17
‘‘(5) The term ‘next-generation air dominance 18
fighter aircraft’— 19
‘‘(A) means— 20
‘‘(i) a sixth-generation fighter aircraft 21
capable of interacting collaboratively with 22
uncrewed aircraft operating semi-autono-23
mously in proximity; or 24
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‘‘(ii) any other fighter aircraft ref-1
erenced or designated as a sixth-generation 2
airframe; and 3
‘‘(B) does not include uncrewed fighter- 4
type aircraft. 5
‘‘(6) The term ‘service retained’, with respect to 6
a fighter aircraft unit or a fighter aircraft, means 7
that the unit or aircraft— 8
‘‘(A) is controlled by the Regular Air 9
Force, the Air Force Reserve, or the Air Na-10
tional Guard for operational, training, or ad-11
ministrative purposes of the component con-12
cerned; and 13
‘‘(B) is not assigned to, or under the oper-14
ational control of, a combatant command or 15
joint task force.’’. 16
Æ
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