An E-2 Hawkeye lands aboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) aircraft carrier during carrier qualifications in January 2011. A recent OMB budget proposal would have cut the E-2 program to redirect money to the newer E-7 Wedgetail, but Congress has blocked the move. (US Navy/Lt. j.g. Dusan Ilic)

The White House Wants to Raid One Aircraft’s Budget to Pay for Another

Share this link on Facebook

Share this page on X (Twitter)

Share this link on LinkedIn

Share this page on Reddit

Email a link to this page

The White House’s proposed amendment to fund the US Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail program would come at the expense of the US Navy’s similar E-2 Hawkeye. Congress is skeptical.

Despite its gargantuan budget—roughly $1 trillion in Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), and perhaps as high as $1.5 trillion in FY27—the US military regularly has to struggle for money to fund certain programs. In many cases, this struggle for money comes directly from other, lower-priority programs, preventing them from being realized. These efforts are extremely contentious, particularly as they tend to cross service lines and ignite turf wars between the various branches of the military.

One such instance of this trend is on display now, as the White House recently sought to take money from the US Navy’s E-2 Hawkeye program in order to fund the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail project. However, Congress appears to have quashed this notion—at least for now.

About the E-7 Wedgetail

Year Introduced: 2009 (Royal Australian Air Force) 

Number Built: ~14 delivered worldwide; >25 planned for US Air Force and allies 

Length: 110 ft 4 in (33.6 m) 

Wingspan: 117 ft 5 in (35.8 m) 

Weight (MTOW): 171,000 lbs (77,565 kg) 

Engines: Two CFM International CFM56-7B27A........

© The National Interest