Washington. The US Congress has given a war-room like message and has imposed an order to continue the E-7 Wedgetail program at any cost. The battle to save the E-7 Wedgetail, which has become the backbone of the US Air Force, has now turned into an open political conflict and this time Congress has struck a blow that has shaken the Pentagon’s plans. Its firepower destroys the entire air strategy of the enemy. E-7 Wedgetail is not an ordinary weapon system, but a command center flying in the sky. If we call it the ‘elephant’ of the sky, then there would be nothing wrong in it because just as no one can stand in front of an elephant in the forest. In the same way, even in the sky war, no one dares to come in front of E-7 Wedgetail. Information is the real weapon in modern warfare and Wedgetail drops this weapon on the enemy.
The Pentagon had previously prepared to eliminate the E-7 program in the 2026 budget. But the move met with so much resistance that 19 top generals, including six former Air Force chiefs of staff, wrote letters directly to lawmakers. This move is being considered almost the insurrection in defense history. Now the Senate has weaponized this insurgent warning and issued an extremely aggressive legislative directive that the Air Force must spend $199.6 million in RDT&E funds “full thrust.” That means the high-speed prototyping of the E-7 Wedgetail will not stop under any circumstances. The remaining E-7 procurement funds of 2025 will also be forcibly shifted and that too without any excuse. Simply put, the US Congress has clearly told the Pentagon that permission to kill the E-7 Wedgetail will not be given at any cost. The bottom line is that defense politics in America has now become not just a policy but a battle of life and death for powerful systems. The E-7 Wedgetail is the new battlefield in this fight and Congress has given strict orders to the Air Force that the E-7 Wedgetail must fly and will remain flying.