Air Force seeks big construction boost
- The Department of the Air Force proposed more than doubling 2027 construction spending to ready facilities for new aircraft. - The funding increase targets basing and infrastructure for next-generation platforms such as the B-21 and F-47. - Doubling construction signals a shift from concept to sustained basing, which will create demand for test infrastructure, support equipment, and sustainment engineering (airandspaceforces.com).
The Air Force wants to spend about $26.8 billion on construction and facility upgrades in fiscal 2027, up from roughly $13.1 billion in 2026. (airandspaceforces.com) The request covers military construction, base upkeep, and family housing across the Air Force and Space Force. New projects alone total $11.15 billion in 2027, compared with $5.33 billion budgeted in 2026. (airandspaceforces.com) A large share is tied to aircraft and missile programs that are moving from design into fielding. The budget includes $730 million for F-47 hangars and support space at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and $1.33 billion for nuclear weapons facilities tied to B-21 Raider beddowns and Sentinel missile work. (airandspaceforces.com) The Air Force awarded Boeing the F-47 engineering and manufacturing contract on March 21, 2025. The 2027 budget says the program is aiming for a first flight in 2028, which puts pressure on the service to build test and support space before the jet arrives. (af.mil, defenseone.com) The same timing problem applies to the B-21. The Air Force said in February 2026 that the bomber remains on track to be on the ramp at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in 2027 after aircraft deliveries began in 2025. (af.mil) Construction money is often the clearest sign that a weapons program is no longer just a paper plan. Hangars, operations centers, weapons storage, fuel systems, and maintenance shops have to be built years before crews can fly and sustain new aircraft. (airandspaceforces.com) The request also reaches beyond combat aircraft. It sets aside $1 billion for new operations centers at four Space Force bases, and Space Force facility sustainment would rise from about $571 million in 2026 to nearly $1.8 billion in 2027. (airandspaceforces.com) Air Force officials have tied the push to a widening repair backlog. Assistant Secretary Michael Borders told Congress that the department’s deferred infrastructure needs are now valued at $55 billion, up from $30 billion in 2022. (airandspaceforces.com) The numbers are still a request, not final law. The White House released the fiscal 2027 budget in April 2026, and Congress will decide how much of the Air Force construction surge survives the appropriations process. (whitehouse.gov, comptroller.war.gov)
