Guard asks for 72–100 fighters/year

National Guard leaders are asking Congress to fund 72 to 100 new fighter jets a year, far above recent Air Force buying plans. (airandspaceforces.com) A letter signed by adjutants general from 22 states with Guard fighter units called for a minimum buy of 48 Lockheed Martin F-35A jets and 24 Boeing F-15EX jets each year. The same letter set a higher target of 72 F-35As and 36 F-15EXs annually. (airandspaceforces.com) Brigadier General Shannon Smith of Idaho told Air & Space Forces that the request covers the whole force, not just the Air National Guard. He said the group had collected signatures from all 22 adjutants general in states that still operate Guard fighter units. (airandspaceforces.com) The Guard is making the case as Air Force fighter buying has stayed below the long-stated 72-per-year mark. In its fiscal 2026 budget request, the Air Force planned to buy 24 F-35As for itself while adding 21 more F-15EXs. (airandspaceforces.com) That gap is tied to a larger inventory problem. Defense analysts told Defense One in January 2025 that the Air Force had 1,206 fighters in its mission inventory, but only 724 were mission-capable in 2024, while older jets were getting harder to keep ready. (defenseone.com) Guard and Reserve leaders have also warned that recapitalization is landing unevenly across the force. At an April 2026 roundtable, Air National Guard officials said 13 of their 24 fighter squadrons had no advanced recapitalization plan, and some had no identified follow-on aircraft at all. (airandspaceforces.com) The Guard’s own lobbying arm is pressing the same point with Congress. The National Guard Association says 13 of 24 Air National Guard fighter squadrons lack a modernization plan that matches combat capability needs in the 2026 National Defense Strategy. (ngaus.org) The proposed fixes are concentrated in two aircraft now in production. The F-35A is the Air Force’s stealth fighter, while the F-15EX is a newer version of the F-15 built to carry large payloads and complement stealth jets. (airandspaceforces.com) The Air Force has also been shifting money toward future programs, including the F-47 next-generation fighter and F-35 Block 4 upgrades, while retiring older aircraft such as the A-10. That has left Guard leaders arguing that buying too few replacement fighters now will deepen the shortfall before newer programs arrive in numbers. (airandspaceforces.com; airandspaceforces.com) Congress now has the request in front of it as it weighs defense spending and aircraft buys for the next budget cycle. The Guard’s message is simple in numbers: 72 fighters a year to stop the slide, and closer to 100 to rebuild. (airandspaceforces.com; defenseone.com)