House appropriators supported a $1.5 billion White House budget request to back E-7 Wedgetail development, but pushed back on an attempt to raid the Navy’s airborne early warning account to partially fund the Air Force’s next-generation radar plane.
In a letter last week, Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director, detailed the E-7 shuffle to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. The Pentagon suggested pulling $651 million from the Navy’s E-2 procurement account and $899 million from the Air Force’s classified special update programs. While House appropriators backed the full E-7 funding in their version of the annual defense spending bill on Wednesday, they also restored the money to the Navy’s coffers.
“While the [Appropriations] Committee wholly supports the E–7 program and funding realignment, the Committee also restored the E–2D program to six aircraft for fiscal year 2027,” lawmakers wrote in their report. “The Committee understands the operational necessity of the E–2D platform; the complementary nature of the E–2D and E–7; and believes that more aircraft, not fewer, are necessary to support our warfighters now and in the future.”
An Air Force spokesperson declined to comment on the programs affected by the shuffle.
Airpower advocates have intensified their push for E-7 funding and battlespace awareness upgrades since an Air Force E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft was damaged in March during the war in Iran. While the Pentagon omitted the Wedgetail its 2027 budget requests, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reversed course and told lawmakers last month that the next-generation replacement is needed for future conflicts.
Given the dwindling E-3 fleet, appropriators said the military’s reliance on airborne battle management aircraft means more investment is needed in a next-generation replacement.
“The conflict in Iran has reinforced the need for the Air Force to maintain a credible airborne battle management capability, currently being met with the Air Force’s E–3 Airborne Warning and Control System and the Navy’s E–2D Hawkeye programs,” lawmakers wrote. “As the E–3 is set to retire, the E–7 Wedgetail will serve as [a] modern replacement for lost battle management capability, commensurate and interoperable with assets already being utilized by key allies.”
Lawmakers also ordered Air Force Secretary Troy Meink to brief the House and Senate defense appropriation subcommittees “on the full E–7 acquisition strategy, to include required quantity; funding requirements across the future years defense program; and schedules for development and production” by the time the 2028 budget request is submitted.
One expert said having the White House, Pentagon, and Congress on the same page, bodes well for the program.
“I believe the likelihood of the program getting off to a great start is very, very high,” said Mark Gunzinger, the Mitchell Institute’s director of future concepts and capability assessments. He added that any shuffling of funds within the service’s accounts “will hurt programs.”
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