Senate and House lawmakers released their compromise 2025 National Defense Authorization bill on Dec. 7—the proposed legislation would give a 14.5 percent pay raise to junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians and prohibit the Air Force from retiring any F-15E or F-22 fighters.
The Air Force’s plans to divest a sizable chunk of its F-22 fighter fleet has run into its biggest hurdle yet, as the House Armed Services Committee’s mark of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act would prohibit any such retirements and establish a minimum fleet ...