Pentagon Requests Additional Funding for E-7 Wedgetail After Previously Proposing to End Program

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee on May 13, 2026 and announced that the Pentagon has sent a budget amendment to OMB to add funding for the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail. Hegseth said there are gaps that need to still be filled on the modern battlefield and listed the Wedgetail as a platform that could perform relevant missions.

"So we've actually sent a budget amendment to OMB to add that.

I think it has a future, it has a place on the battlefield," Hegseth told the panel. The comments mark a reversal from the Trump administration's FY26 budget request, which zeroed funding for the E-7 Wedgetail citing survivability and cost concerns. In 2025 testimony before Rep.

Tom Cole, Hegseth had stated that the E-7 is not survivable in the modern battlefield. He had added that the aircraft's key task of tracking airborne targets could be shifted to space-based sensors. Congress provided funding for the E-7 in the FY26 budget despite the administration's request to cancel it.

The Air Force continued the E-7 program according to congressional direction after the FY26 budget. The Pentagon did not include funding for the E-7 in the FY27 budget request.

The spokesperson added that the Air Force is evaluating options to resource the E-7 program in FY 2027 to deliver Rapid Prototyping aircraft and continue Engineering and Manufacturing Development activities. Testifying before lawmakers on April 30, 2026, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed that the Air Force contracted for five additional E-7 aircraft in addition to two rapid prototypes currently underway.

The original plan when initial contracts were signed with Boeing in 2023 was for 26 E-7 aircraft.

Boeing officials previously anticipated building as many as six Wedgetails a year. Hegseth attributed the policy shift to a change in thinking at the Pentagon. He stated that the previous department position favoring satellite ISR over airborne platforms reflected a "divest to invest" or "austerity mindset" that has been shed.

Rep. Tom Cole, who represents Tinker Air Force Base where the E-7 is expected to replace the E-3 Sentry, told Hegseth "Thank you for rethinking that" during the May 13, 2026 hearing. Cole had pressed Hegseth on the issue in the prior year's testimony as well.

U.S. military abandonment of the E-7 prompted other customers like NATO to renege on similar commitments. S. Air Force’s Airborne Early Warning & Control fleet with unmatched capabilities for greater situational awareness and battle management.

The revival follows sustained congressional support for the aircraft, which performs early warning, target tracking as well as airborne command and control missions. Valerie Insinna contributed reporting to the article from Breaking Defense.