A-10s Saved | T-7 Arrives | B-2 Brought Back to Life

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Edited by: Sidney McAlear

FLIGHT LINE 🎯 

🎯 Congress Blocks Air Force Plan to Retire A-10s and F-15Es in New NDAA

Congress has moved to halt the Air Force’s effort to retire legacy A-10s and F-15Es, inserting language in the 2025 NDAA that prevents the service from divesting aircraft it had planned to cut. The Air Force sought to retire all 162 remaining A-10s and 21 F-15E Strike Eagles, but the bill caps A-10 retirements at 59 and blocks any F-15E divestments for the year. (more)

• The NDAA requires the Air Force to maintain at least 103 A-10s through September 2026, with 93 kept combat-ready.

• The NDAA also slashed $208 million in F-35 research and development funds. This is a move that aligns with a slowdown in F-35 buys for FY26 due to TR-3 (Technology Refresh) delays, which are pushing Block 4 back. Said another way, the DoD is tired of buying F-35s knowing they are going to have to retrofit them to Block 4 capability down the road.

• The NDAA did add $250 million for F-35A spare parts, citing that parts availability has contributed to readiness issues.

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🎯 First T-7A Red Hawk Arrives at AETC for Testing and Training

Air Education and Training Command has received its first T-7A Red Hawk, which landed at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph on December 5, marking the start of integrating the next-generation trainer into the pilot training enterprise. The jet is assigned to the 99th Flying Training Squadron, where it will be used for instructor familiarization and initial operational test and evaluation. (more)

• A second T-7A is expected to arrive in spring 2026 as part of the initial rollout.

• The official program plans call for a total of 351 T-7A jets to be fielded across five AETC bases. The first students are expected to start training in 2027. 

• Instructor pilot training and curriculum development will begin at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph as the aircraft enters early test phases.

🎯 Air Force Confirms F-35As Conducted SEAD in Operation Midnight Hammer Strike on Iran

The Air Force confirmed that F-35A fighters participating in Operation Midnight Hammer—the June 22 strike on Iranian uranium enrichment and nuclear research sites—conducted suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and later provided fighter cover as the strike package exited Iran. This marks one of the clearest acknowledgments to date of the F-35A executing SEAD in a real-world combat operation. (more)

🎯 Plant 42 Brought the Damaged B-2 “Spirit of Georgia” Back to Life

On Sept. 14, 2021, the B-2 Spirit tail number 89-0129 “Spirit of Georgia” suffered a left main landing gear collapse at Whiteman AFB, badly damaging the wing and raising doubts about its future. After a multi-year, four-phased repair effort involving temporary fixes at Whiteman, a one-time ferry flight to Plant 42, and complex composite work valued at $23.7 million, the aircraft returned to flight on Nov. 6, 2025, restoring a critical deep-strike asset to the B-2 fleet. (more)

SNAPSHOT

🚩 Argentina has received its first F-16 fighter jets from Denmark, marking the start of the country’s modernization effort with the newly acquired fleet. (more)

🚩 The U.S. has approved the first export of the AIM-260A Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, with Australia set to become the system’s first international operator. (more)

🚩 Boeing announced a Foreign Military Sales contract for 96 AH-64E Apaches for Poland, the largest Apache order ever by a non-U.S. military, with deliveries beginning in 2028 and Polish crews already in training. (more)

🚩 Two Chinese and seven Russian military aircraft entered South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone, prompting ROK Air Force fighters to scramble in the first such incident since November 2024 (more)

🚩 Royal Thai Marine special forces and F-16s conducted strikes against Cambodian along the Trat Province border, hitting sites in an abandoned casino and in Chamrak (more)

THREAT OF THE DAY (TOD)

Patriot Surface-to-Air Missile System

Threat Name: Mobile Interceptor Missile Patriot (MIM-104)
Country of Origin: United States
Initial Operational Capability: Early 1980s
Primary Role: Long-range air and missile defense against aircraft, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles
Variants: PAC-1, PAC-2, PAC-3, PAC-3 MSE
Range: PAC-2 intercepts aircraft at roughly 70 nautical miles; PAC-3 MSE can intercept aerodynamic targets at similar distances but engages ballistic missiles at significantly shorter ranges due to engagement geometry
Speed: Interceptor speeds reported above Mach 4, depending on variant and trajectory
Payload: PAC-2 uses a high-explosive fragmentation warhead; PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE use a hit-to-kill kinetic interceptor
Propulsion: Solid-fuel rocket motor
Defensive Capability: Designed to counter aircraft, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles using phased-array radar, automated engagement logic, and multi-target tracking
Recent Combat Activity: Deployed operationally in the Middle East and Ukraine, with confirmed engagements against ballistic, cruise, and air-breathing threats