Overview
- In written testimony to House appropriators, Air Force leaders outlined a plan to retire the E-11 Battlefield Airborne Communications Node fleet in fiscal 2028 and to grow the new EA-37B Compass Call fleet to 22 aircraft.
- Budget documents for fiscal 2027 cut E-11 program funding to zero after $296 million in spending since 2005, signaling the start of a drawdown for the Bombardier Global-based relay jets.
- An Air Force spokesperson said the service now operates seven E-11s and plans to fold their role into the emerging Department of the Air Force Battle Network, which will lean on new satellite links and modular payloads.
- To bridge the transition, the services are pursuing a Hybrid SATCOM Terminal program with $20.5 million requested in fiscal 2027 for flight tests on nine aircraft types, with no funds requested in fiscal 2028.
- Operational context shows the EA-37B entered training in May 2025 and has since flown confirmed combat missions in the Middle East, while open-source trackers place most E-11s at Prince Sultan Air Base and recent deliveries highlight questions about what happens to relatively young airframes.