{"id":11840,"date":"2026-05-27T02:02:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T02:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/hasc-still-waiting-for-updated-e-7-wedgetail-funding-request\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T02:02:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T02:02:40","slug":"hasc-still-waiting-for-updated-e-7-wedgetail-funding-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/hasc-still-waiting-for-updated-e-7-wedgetail-funding-request\/","title":{"rendered":"HASC still waiting for updated E-7 Wedgetail funding request"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The House Armed Services Committee has not received a budget amendment to fund the E-7 Wedgetail, though the Defense Department recently reversed course and promised to support the next-generation radar plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told House lawmakers that the Pentagon would amend its $1.5 trillion budget request to include Wedgetail\u2014which had been zeroed out in favor of space-based systems. Last week, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told House lawmakers the estimated $1.5 billion amendment is \u201cworking its way\u201d to Congress. But the initial draft of the HASC chairman\u2019s 2027 National Defense Authorization Act released on Tuesday did not include funding for the E-7.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration has indicated that they intend to send us a budget amendment to address Wedgetail, E-7, procurement in \u201827,\u201d one senior HASC staffer told reporters Tuesday. \u201cWe haven’t received it yet, so I don’t know how much they’re seeking, and I don’t know if they’re seeking it in discretionary or mandatory, and I don’t know what they’re intending to use as an offset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hesgeth told lawmakers the Pentagon\u2019s past disregard for the E-7 resembled a \u201cdivest-to-invest mindset,\u201d and emphasized that it has a \u201cfuture\u201d on the battlefield. The promise to renew funding followed the damage of an E-3 Sentry aircraft in the Iran war, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. Damage to the E-3 and other support aircraft during Operation Epic Fury has led former military leaders to call for more funding for battlespace awareness upgrades and AWACS replacements, Defense One<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

HASC said it would add the E-7 funding once they received the amendment. A White House Office Management and Budget spokesperson told Defense One<\/em> it will send the updated funding request along soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOMB will be sending a budget amendment to Congress in short order so it can be considered in the NDAA,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe look forward to continuing our work with Congress to fund the President\u2019s defense priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Air Force spokesperson previously said the service is \u201cevaluating options to resource the E-7 program in FY 2027 to deliver Rapid Prototyping aircraft and continue Engineering and Manufacturing Development activities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meink told lawmakers in April that the service plans to buy five additional Wedgetails in addition to two prototypes already under contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While there is no procurement or research and development funds for the aircraft in the House\u2019s 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, the committee\u2019s initial draft added an $55 million outside of the Pentagon\u2019s budget request for a E\u20137 AWACS Squadron Operations Facility at Oklahoma\u2019s Tinker Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do support the E-7 program,\u201d the staffer said. \u201cWe would like to see that budget amendment.\u201d\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n