Fifty-seven defense contractors at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are losing their jobs as the U.S. Air Force reallocates F-16 fighter jet sustainment funding away from traditional avionics support toward cyber resilience and next-generation capabilities. The layoffs, announced by Sumaria Systems through a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed January 15, illustrate how defense employment increasingly shifts based on evolving mission priorities rather than overall platform health.
Sumaria Systems, a Massachusetts-based contractor, submitted the WARN notice to Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services confirming that 57 employees at Wright-Patterson will be laid off effective January 31, 2026. The company attributed the terminations to market competition and loss of an F-16 advanced avionics systems support contract following a recompete by the Air Force.
An additional 59 employees face layoffs at Hill Air Force Base in Utah under the same contract loss. The roughly two-week notice period underscores how rapidly job security can evaporate when federal contracts change hands through competitive procurement processes.
Contract Competition and Loss
Sumaria was part of a bidding team that sought to retain F-16 avionics support work valued at approximately $200 million, according to the company’s earlier announcements. However, the Air Force selected a different contractor during the recompete process, which reassesses performance, pricing, and technical approaches rather than automatically renewing existing arrangements.
The lost contract provided a broad range of professional acquisition, engineering, scientific, research, financial, and administrative capabilities supporting the F-16 Program Office at multiple Air Force locations. Recompetes serve as the Air Force’s primary mechanism for controlling costs and ensuring the most competitive bidders meet evolving operational requirements on legacy platforms.
While recompetes can trigger workforce disruptions, they are designed to ensure taxpayers receive optimal value and that defense work aligns with current mission needs. Allowing political considerations or incumbent preference to override source selection decisions would compromise competitive integrity and potentially increase long-term costs.
The F-16 Sustainment Challenge
The F-16 Fighting Falcon entered service in the late 1970s and remains among the world’s most widely deployed fighter aircraft, with over 4,600 produced. Despite its age, the platform continues receiving upgrades in avionics, software, sensors, and survivability systems to extend its operational relevance.
The Air Force plans to operate significant numbers of F-16s through the 2030s, with later-model aircraft potentially flying into the 2040s. Structural life extension programs have increased flight hour limits from 8,000 to 12,000 hours for many airframes, effectively adding decades of service life.
However, sustaining this aging fleet requires a vast ecosystem of prime contractors and specialized firms competing for modernization and support roles. As the Air Force balances cost, capability, and longevity, funding gradually shifts from labor-intensive legacy sustainment toward higher-end cyber protection and systems resilience activities.
Workforce Disruption and Local Impact
The WARN notice indicates affected positions include F-16 subject matter experts, senior logistics managers, logisticians, and other specialized support roles. These positions typically require deep platform knowledge, technical expertise, and security clearances, making them highly specialized but vulnerable when tied to single contracts or aircraft programs.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base serves as Ohio’s largest single-site employer, with over 30,000 military personnel, civilian employees, and contractors generating a $4.2 billion annual economic impact. While 57 jobs represent a small fraction of total base employment, the losses concentrate within a specialized workforce segment.
When dozens of experienced aerospace and defense professionals simultaneously enter the job market, it can temporarily strain local demand for similar skills. Although this creates short-term competition for available roles, the broader defense industrial base continues seeking cleared engineering and logistics talent nationwide.
The elimination of 57 specialized defense positions likely removes several million dollars in annual wages from the local economy. Secondary effects ripple through housing, services, and small businesses in the Dayton region, explaining why even modest-sized defense layoffs generate outsized concern among local officials and community leaders.
Shifting Priorities in Defense Work
Despite losing the advanced avionics support contract, Sumaria remains involved in other Air Force programs. The company was awarded a separate contract valued at approximately $43.2 million to provide F-16 program support focused on cyber resiliency and related acquisition, engineering, testing, and security functions.
This contract illustrates how defense contractors can simultaneously lose traditional sustainment work while gaining roles aligned with new Air Force priorities. The service increasingly emphasizes protecting aircraft systems from cyber threats throughout their life cycles, including safeguarding F-16 avionics, mission systems, and support infrastructure.
Funding gradually shifts toward cyber and systems resilience activities that often require fewer but more specialized personnel, contributing to workforce restructuring. Even when work continues at the same base, incumbent workers do not automatically transfer to winning bidders due to differences in staffing models, labor rates, or technical approaches.
While layoffs dominate headlines, Ohio simultaneously attracts significant new defense and aerospace investment. Anduril Industries’ planned Arsenal-1 advanced manufacturing facility in Pickaway County near Columbus is expected to generate approximately 4,000 jobs when it begins initial production lines in July 2026.
Combined with established players such as GE Aerospace and ongoing work at Wright-Patterson, these developments point toward a shift in Ohio’s defense sector toward next-generation manufacturing and autonomous systems rather than overall decline. The challenge for the Dayton region lies in managing near-term workforce disruption while positioning employees for emerging aerospace and defense opportunities.
Sources:
“Contract loss triggers layoffs for 57 defense firm employees at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base” – Dayton Business Journal
“WARN notice: Employer to lay off 50+ at Wright-Patt” – Dayton Daily News
“Nearly 60 employees at Wright-Patt Air Force Base to lose jobs” – Eagle (WHIO / Cox media local outlet)
“WARN Notice: 57 layoffs expected at Wright-Patt AFB” – WDTN / Yahoo News syndication
“Nearly 60 Employees at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to Be Laid Off” – SSBCrack News
“Air Force Awards $43M F-16 Cyber Resiliency Contract to Sumaria Systems” – ClearanceJobs New