US Air Force Completes Force Design 2026: A Classified Plan Built Around Technology, Autonomy and Integration
The US Air Force announced on 10 November 2026 that it has completed Force Design 2026, a new force design plan describing how the service will generate and employ combat power in a future war against capable adversaries. The plan is classified: an Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine there is no publicly releasable unclassified version.
What does Force Design 2026 change?
The plan builds on and replaces One Force Design 2024, produced under the previous Chief of Staff, Gen. David W. Allvin. That plan was also classified, but the service published an unclassified overview at the time. The overview focused on the “changed character of war” and set out three “mission areas capabilities”, ranging from highly survivable systems in contested airspace to long-range platforms that launch standoff weapons.
According to the spokesperson, Force Design 2026 lays out how the service must change to meet the operational problems of a high-end, technology-driven conflict, with a particular focus on “technology, autonomy and integration”. The Air Force statement says rapid advances in sensing, networking, artificial intelligence, autonomy, uncrewed systems, long-range weapons and electronic warfare are changing the speed, scale and complexity of warfare.
The statement asks Airmen to look beyond individual platforms and capabilities such as aircraft, sensors, weapons and command and control, and to think instead about the systems that link them. Air & Space Forces Magazine notes that autonomy did not feature in the 2024 summary, which may reflect plans to field hundreds of autonomous drones in the coming years.
What did the commanders say?
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said: “Our Force Design is about the capabilities we will field that are necessary to fight and win in the future.” He called the plan “a fundamental shift” in how the service approaches future challenges and said it would help Airmen understand how combat power will be delivered in the years ahead.
Lt. Gen. Chris Niemi, the Air Force’s chief modernization officer, said the service must evolve to remain the world’s best air force: new technologies enable capabilities that were unimaginable a few years ago, but the same technologies threaten some of the ways airpower has traditionally been generated.
Not disclosed
- The content of the plan, which remains classified
- Which platforms, programmes or force numbers it covers
- Budget implications and the implementation timeline
Sources: US Air Force statement, 10 November 2026; Air & Space Forces Magazine, 10 November 2026.
