3 Companies Win $5.4 Billion Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support (CAF/CAS) Contracts

The U.S. Air Force awarded KestrelX, A2G International and Fleet Adversary Support and Training contracts under the Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support program, with a combined ceiling of up to $5.4 billion. The companies will provide adversary-air and close-air-support services for military training. The award notice places performance throughout the continental United States, with work expected to be completed by Oct. 8, 2029.

Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support Details

The contractors will supply aircraft and pilots to present realistic advanced adversary-air threats during fighter-pilot production and combat-readiness training. They will also fly contracted close-air-support sorties for Joint Terminal Attack Controller training, giving personnel practice directing air support. The program solicitation describes both missions as services for multiple Air Force and Defense Department customers.

Each company will provide more than flight crews: the required service also covers aircraft systems support, maintenance and support equipment, along with program and quality management. A presolicitation notice estimated demand at approximately 30,000 flight hours annually across U.S. and overseas operations. That planning estimate describes the broader requirement; the award notice identifies continental U.S. locations for these contracts.

Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support Background

The Air Force uses contracted aircraft to supplement military training capacity rather than procure aircraft for its own fleet. In a 2022 review of military air support, the Government Accountability Office reported that officials saw contracted support as a way to add training capacity while preserving military aircraft for more demanding events and addressing constraints involving maintenance and available fighter pilots. GAO said the earlier CAF/CAS framework allowed for 40,000 adversary-air hours at 12 locations and 10,000 close-air-support hours at nine locations. Those figures were authorized capacity, not hours flown or quantities awarded under the new contracts.

Award and Contractor Background

The Air Force made the three awards on Oct. 15, 2026, after a competition that drew three offers. The $5.4 billion ceiling is shared across the contracts, rather than an award of that amount to each company. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

The new awards follow an earlier 2019 CAF/CAS multiple-award contract with a combined $6.4 billion ceiling and seven contractors for adversary-air and close-air-support training. KestrelX has also held a related Air Combat Command training contract valued at up to $2.1 million to provide a manned aircraft that could simulate an unmanned aircraft or cruise missile; that contract listed a potential completion date in June 2026.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under FA489027D0003, FA489027D0002, FA489027D0001 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.