The Department of War's 2026 Fiscal Year runs between October 1st, 2025, and on September 30th, 2026.
The information presented on this page has been extracted from the FY 2026 Force Structure Changes document which was submitted for Congressional approval. This document, drafted in August 2025, puts forward a proposed list of aircraft which the DoW wishes to reduce or retire in the coming year. Congress always has the ultimate say on military spending and the yearly proposed 'wish lists' are often amended following scrutiny and consideration by the House & Senate Armed Services Committees.
This year Congress has rejected the complete retirement of the Fairchild A-10C Thunderbolt. Instead of the full fleet of 162 aircraft being retired, full retirement should be delayed and a majority of them should be retained in the active U.S. Air Force inventory. U.S. Representative Austin Scott (GA-08), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), raised an amendment which requires the Air Force to maintain a minimum of 93 A-10 aircraft. His reasoning was that he believes that the A-10C provides close air support and combat search-and-rescue capabilities unmatched by any other aircraft in the Air Force’s inventory. Other sources state that the retained number should be as high as 103.
In the documents Executive Summary, a very top level description of what the DoW proposed in way of force reductions;
"In FY 2026, the Department plans to retire/divest 436 aircraft and decommission 13 ships with an estimated decrease in operational costs of $676.6 million. These decisions will allow the Department to procure and operate more capable replacement aircraft that better align with the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance (INDSG).
The FY 2026 planned legacy aircraft retirements and corresponding decreases in operational costs include 26 Army retirements ($17.9 million), 60 Navy and Marine Corps retirements ($158.8 million), 339 Air Force retirements ($1.2 billion) and 11 U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) retirements ($72.0 million).
The Army plans to divest 26 rotary-wing aircraft in FY 2026. The rotary-wing aircraft comprise 26 UH-60L helicopters. The Army is divesting UH-60Ls as part of its Utility Helicopter Fleet modernization strategy. The divestment quantities align with new production aircraft fielding (e.g., new UH-60M and final production quantities of UH-60V)."
How This Relates To AMARG
The annual budget request from the Department For War, previously called the Department of Defense, gives a useful insight into the possible short to medium term arrivals at AMARG.
Typically when U.S. military aircraft types are retired from service, the majority will end up at Davis-Monthan AFB for reclamation, long term storage or disposal. However, a number will inevitably be assigned to a variety of new roles or operators including; transfer to other U.S. agencies or civilian owners, supply to friendly nations under a Foreign Military Sale, donation to museums or other display purposes, etc.
Therefore many of the aircraft listed below will be arriving at AMARG in the 2026 Fiscal Year but it should be expected that a smaller number will retire to other locations.
Looking at the latest proposed reductions a few of the aircraft types will be less likely to appear at AMARG. Some recently retired TH-57s have been auctioned and sold by the GSA (General Services Administration) at NAS Whiting Field, FL. where they had been based during service. On January 7th ten retired TH-57s were transferred (free of charge) directly to the Sri Lanka Air Force under the Excess Defense Articles program. The same will probably happen to any of the Army UH-60 Blackhawks which are retired. AV-8 Harriers are also seemingly being retired directly to museums and other locations for display, time will tell if any get flown out to AMARG.
U.S. Army FY 2026 Retirements/Divestments
| Sikorsky UH-60L Blackhawk | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -26 | Retirement of UH-60L aircraft while newer UH-60M and upgraded UH-60V aircraft are fielded. |
U.S. Navy FY 2026 Retirements/Divestments
| McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -14 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to F-35B. |
| Grumman C-2A Greyhound | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -7 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to CMV-22B. |
| Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -3 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to CH-53K. |
| Grumman E-2C Hawkeye | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -2 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to E-2D. |
| McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -1 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to F-35C. |
| Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -1 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service. |
| Boeing Insitu RQ-21A Reaper | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -2 | Retirement of aircraft and transition to contract ISR services. |
| McDonnell Douglas TAV-8B Harrier II | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -2 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to F-35B. |
| Bell TH-57B Sea Ranger | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -3 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to TH-73A. |
| Bell TH-57C Sea Ranger | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -16 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to TH-73A. |
| Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -9 | Retirement of aircraft due to end of service and transition to VH-92A. |
U.S. Air Force FY 2026 Retirements/Divestments
| Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk | Early Retirement | -35 | Retiring T-1A in order to fund higher priority AF requirements. It is imperative that the Department of the Air Force seek efficiencies to streamline and transition our training force structure to better align with pilot training next generation requirements. Divestment of the T-1 will enable investments in more capable training technologies. Releases funding and instructor pilots for higher priorities. |
| Bell UH-1N (OSA) Huey | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -4 | UH-1N Divestment reduces the WSS sustainment requirements and maintains the same capability. |
| Fairchild Thunderbolt II A-10C | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | ~59 | This divestment allows for the repurposing of A-10 manpower, enables investment in the future force and advances force lethality improvements against peer adversaries. NOTE: Originally the retirement of all 162 active A-10Cs were proposed by the DoW. However, Congress has insisted that a minimum of 103 must remain in service. This means a maximum of 59 aircraft could be retiring this fiscal year, although nothing has yet been confirmed. |
| Lockheed C-130H Hercules | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -14 | Recent shifts in the fleet involving C-130J procurement and C-130H retirements have resulted in more flying hours for the C-130J system, driving up wear and tear on the engines and additional training hours to qualify aircrew. Procure and sustain the C-130J fleet is a higher priority than the H fleet. |
| Sikorsky Pave Hawk HH-60G | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -11 | Divestment of HH-60G To enable recapitalization, the Air Force is retiring the legacy HH-60G fleet (airframes are at ESL), with savings reinvested toward HH-60W Jolly Green II and future combat search and rescue force modernization. |
| Boeing KC-135 R/T Stratotanker | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -14 | KC-135 R/T Divestment "1 for 1 " recapitalization of KC-135 with KC-46 and follow-on tanker; USAF is committed to 466 tanker fleet. |
| Lockheed EC-130H Compass Call | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -3 | The EC-130H legacy fleet is in sunset and will be retired by late FY 2025 to early FY 2026, to be replaced by EC-37B. The decrease represents reduced requirements in contract depot level reparables, as well as contract software maintenance. Requirements were reduced primarily due to a delay in the EC-37B schedule, and an updated Program Office estimate for the CLS at Davis-Monthan AFB. |
| McDonnell Douglas F-15 C/D Eagle | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -13 | The F-15C/D Divestment — To attain the desired fighter fleet, the Air Force must right size current aircraft inventories to expedite the transition away from less capable, and aging aircraft to prioritize investment in future capabilities, such as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Family of systems and F-35 modernization. |
| McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -21 | F-15E divestment — The Air Force determined the best mix for the fighter fleet calls for maintaining a F-15E fleet of 129 aircraft (99 with the F 100-PW-229 engines and 30 with the F-100-PW-220 engines ), and shifting resources to maximize procurement of newer fighters and capabilities. |
| General Dynamics F-16 C/D Fighting Falcon | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -62 | F-16 C/D divestment — Enables the Air Force to right-size current aircraft inventories to expedite the transition away from less capable and aging aircraft to prioritize investment in future capabilities. |
Special Operations Command FY 2026 Retirements/Divestments
| Beechcraft MC-12 Javaman | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -5 | Scheduled retirement of Javaman - USSOCOM retires five Javaman ISR aircraft in FY26 as part of its effort to divest of all manned ISR platforms by 2029. |
| Beechcraft MC-12W Liberty | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -5 | Scheduled retirement of MC-12W - USSOCOM retires five MC-12W ISR aircraft in FY26 as part of its effort to divest of all manned ISR platforms by 2029. |
| Pilatus U-28 Draco (PC-12) | Retirement at or beyond end of service life | -1 | Scheduled retirement of PC-12 USSOCOM retires one PC-12 ISR aircraft in FY26 as part of its effort to divest of all manned ISR platforms by 2029. |