Calvert Remarks at Budget Hearing on The United States Air Force and Space Force

Good morning, we are here to discuss the Department of the Air Force’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2027. 

We have three witnesses before us today:

• Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. Troy Meink;
• General Kenneth Wilsbach, Chief of Staff of the Air Force;
• General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations. 

I want to first recognize the Air Force efforts during the operations in Venezuela and now Iran. We have incredible Airmen that serve. I offer my condolences for those that paid the ultimate sacrifice, the wounded, and the harrowing rescue of Dude 44. Our Airmen are the very best in the world. I also want to acknowledge the aircraft we have lost and munitions we have expended in Iran – which is not insignificant. 

We may see a request for a supplemental at some point but we have not seen it yet, and it is unclear how we plan to replenish our stocks and address losses we have taken in our Air Force inventory. The request before the Committee does include additional aircraft including 24 F-15EXs, 15 KC-46s, 23 T-7s and a healthy request for F-47 and the next generation bomber. Thirty-eight (38) F-35A’s are requested, of which 14 of those are requested in mandatory. That brings me to a concern I want to put on the record. 

In addition to the billions requested for the F-35 enterprise, several of the programs I consider highest priority are being funded through the mandatory request:

• $17.5 billion for Golden Dome,
• $7.7 billion for Air Moving Target Indicator,
• $4.6 billion for munitions procurement, and
• $3.9 billion for the Space Data Network.

Mandatory funding bypasses the annual appropriations process, which is how Congress exercises its oversight responsibility. If these programs are as critical as the budget request suggests — and I believe they are — then they deserve the full scrutiny and sustained attention that the appropriations process provides. I would urge the Department to work with us to bring these programs into the discretionary budget, where they belong.

With that said, we should note that the U.S. Space Force has made remarkable progress in a short time — maturing into a true warfighting service, accelerating the delivery of critical capabilities, and prioritizing resilience across its architecture. I commend the men and women of the Space Force for that work. But we cannot afford to be satisfied. The domain is evolving faster than ever, and the challenges ahead are serious.

China and Russia are not standing still. China has dramatically expanded its on-orbit presence, and both nations continue to test and develop dedicated space combat capabilities. This is not a future threat — it is a present one, and our posture must reflect that reality. The Space Force's FY27 budget request of $71 billion — up from roughly $40 billion in FY26 — is a recognition of that threat. I support investing in the capabilities we need. 

A budget of this scale will test our acquisition workforce, and we must ensure that growth in spending is matched by growth in our capacity to execute. We will work closely with you throughout this budget process to find ways we can accelerate the fielding of the platforms needed by our warfighters today. With that, I’ll yield to the Ranking Member, Ms. McCollum, for any opening remarks she would like to make.