https://breakingdefense.com/2025/04/america-needs-to-modernize-its-air-force-now-or-be-prepared-to-lose/

"The Air Force is an "antique force," write David Deptula and Mark Gunzinger in this op-ed, and must rebuild."

By   DAVID DEPTULA and MARK GUNZINGER on April 30, 2025 at 11:45 AM

"An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 2, 2020. (U.S. Air Force photo by Vandenberg Air Force Base Public Affairs)"

Quote:

Chronic underinvestment is what got the Air Force to this point. The nation invested over $1.3 trillion more in its Army than its Air Force in the 20 years after 9/11. Likewise, it invested over $900 billion more in its Navy than its Air Force in the same period. This imbalance is a recipe for losing future wars.

Masking this underinvestment is a budgetary gimmick that dates to the 1960s. The Air Force’s annual budget contains a massive pass-through for other defense-wide spending, amounting to over $45 billion annually. While that money inflates the Air Force’s budget, not one cent of that money is spent on or for the Air Force. This lack of transparency must be fixed by the Trump administration.

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Policy Paper by the above authors

https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/app/uploads/2022/09/Decades_-of_Air_Force_Underfunding_-Policy_Paper_37-Final.pdf