Air Force Uniform Schedule 2026: Every Jersey and When the Falcons Wear It

No program in college football builds a one-off uniform with more research behind it than Air Force, and the 2026 version is already public. This is the full Air Force 2026 uniform schedule: the blue home set, the white road set, the Freedom 250 uniform the Falcons opened the season in, the B-21 Raider build from the Air Power Legacy Series that comes out against Navy on October 3, and a week-by-week outlook for all twelve games including both Commander-in-Chief's Trophy dates. We update this page as each combination is confirmed.

The Air Force 2026 Uniform Sets

The base is simple and has been for years. Air Force wears a royal blue shell with a silver lightning bolt down the side, blue at home and white on the road, all of it from Nike. The road look gets announced the same way every year, by helmet, jersey and pants in emoji.

What makes this program worth following is everything stacked on top of that base, and 2026 has two separate layers of it.

The first arrived in the opener. Every Air Force athletics team is wearing a Freedom 250 patch this year to mark 250 years of American independence, and the football team built a whole uniform around it for September 5. The helmet carries the traditional AF in red, white and blue with thirteen stars on the A for the thirteen original states, the lightning bolt carries thirteen more, the back of the shell reads AMERICA, the Department of War Freedom 250 patch sits on the left shoulder, thirteen stars run down the sleeve and the pant leg, and the back nameplates carry the Academy's core values instead of names.

The second is the big one.

On August 25, Air Force and Northrop Grumman announced the 2026 edition of the Air Power Legacy Series, built around the B-21 Raider, the stealth bomber named for the Doolittle Raiders who flew sixteen B-25s off the deck of the USS Hornet on April 18, 1942. The uniform is matte black almost everywhere: a black shell with a dark camouflage wrap across the crown, B-21 printed above the facemask, a smoked visor, a black jersey with chrome silver numerals and an outlined AIR FORCE wordmark, and black pants with vertical type running down the leg. The jersey carries patches for Air Force Global Strike Command, the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, which runs developmental testing on the B-21 through its 420th Flight Test Squadron, Air Force Materiel Command, and the 140th Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard. The back plates read STRATEGIC DETERRENCE and POWER PROJECTION. Hanging off the belt is a red terrycloth towel embroidered with REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT, the warning streamer pulled off an aircraft's covers and safety pins before it can fly.

The series started in 2016 with shark-teeth nose art and has since run through the F-35, the AC-130, the C-17, the Tuskegee Airmen and their red-tailed P-51s, the B-52 Stratofortress, the Space Force, the Doolittle Raiders, Air Force Special Operations Command and, in 2025, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, a light gray set with FIGHTING FALCON down one pant leg and VIPER down the other.

Air Force wears the B-21 against Navy on October 3, and 100 percent of the proceeds from game-worn gear go back to cadet-athletes.

One structural note before the grid. The 2026 slate gave Air Force seven home games, its first seven-game home schedule since 2022, and it put the Navy game in Colorado Springs rather than Annapolis. That is why the B-21 uniform is a home debut this year. In 2025 the Falcons wore the F-16 set on the road at Navy.

The Full Air Force 2026 Uniform Schedule, Week by Week

September 5 vs. Duquesne. ★ Confirmed from Academy photography: the Freedom 250 uniform, white helmet with the red, white and blue AF and a red facemask, navy jersey, navy pants with the star-filled red stripe. Air Force won 34-0 in an 11 a.m. Mountain opener, its twentieth straight season-opening win, and the first meeting ever between the two schools.

September 12 vs. North Dakota State. ★ Confirmed from Academy photography: blue helmet, blue jersey, blue pants, the full monochrome home look for an 8 p.m. Mountain kickoff on FS1 with a drone show over Falcon Stadium. This was also the Mountain West opener for both teams, North Dakota State's first conference game as a league member, and the Bison won it 38-32 in green helmets and white jerseys.

September 19. Bye.

September 26 at Nevada. White expected. A late trip to Mackay Stadium in Reno.

October 3 vs. Navy. Our full breakdown and grade is in Air Force's B-21 Raider uniform. B-21 Raider. The Air Power Legacy Series uniform debuts here, at 10 a.m. Mountain on CBS, in the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Navy is the visitor and wears white, which sets up a matte black service academy uniform against the plainest white set in the sport. Navy has its own reasons to be interesting this fall, and the Navy 2026 uniform schedule has the Midshipmen's side of it, including the 1926 centennial throwback they are saving for Notre Dame.

October 10 at Northern Illinois. White expected. The cross-country Mountain West trip to DeKalb, Illinois.

October 17 vs. UNLV. Blue expected.

October 23 at Wyoming. White expected. A Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, on The CW.

October 31 vs. UConn. Blue expected. Halloween at Falcon Stadium.

November 7 at Army. White expected. The second Commander-in-Chief's Trophy game, at Michie Stadium on CBS, and Army's only home night game of the season. The Black Knights wear black at home, so the color assignment here is not in question. What Army does with its pants is the variable, and the Army 2026 uniform schedule tracks it. One thing worth being clear about: the B-21 uniform is spoken for on October 3, so do not expect the Air Power Legacy Series set to travel to West Point.

November 14 vs. San Jose State. Blue expected.

November 20 vs. UTEP. Blue expected. Another Friday night on The CW, and the last home game of the season.

November 27 at New Mexico. White expected. The regular season finale, the day after Thanksgiving, at 2:30 p.m. Mountain in Albuquerque. ESPN's feed currently files this game under Saturday, November 28. The Academy's own schedule says Friday, November 27, and that is the date we are going with.

The Bottom Line

Air Force runs the most disciplined base uniform in college football and then spends its creative energy in exactly one place a year. In 2026 it spent it twice. The Freedom 250 set turned the opener red, white and blue for the semiquincentennial, and the B-21 Raider build continues a series that started in 2016 and has honored everything from shark-teeth nose art to the Tuskegee Airmen. Everything in between is blue at home and white on the road, with seven home games, three Friday nights and two Commander-in-Chief's Trophy dates. Air Force owns twenty-one of those trophies, more than Army or Navy, but Navy has taken the last two. The grid above has every game, and we fill in the stars as each uniform is confirmed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Air Force wearing this week?

Nothing. Air Force is on a bye on September 19 after splitting its first two games. The Falcons return on September 26 at Nevada, where the road white jersey is expected, and then wear the B-21 Raider uniform at home against Navy on October 3.

What are Air Force's football uniforms for 2026?

A blue helmet with the silver lightning bolt paired with a blue home jersey or a white road jersey, both from Nike, plus two specials. The Freedom 250 uniform, a navy set with red and white trim and thirteen stars in several places, came out in the opener. The B-21 Raider uniform, matte black with chrome numerals, comes out against Navy. Every Air Force team also wears a Freedom 250 patch this season.

When does Air Force wear the B-21 Raider uniform?

Saturday, October 3 against Navy at Falcon Stadium, 10 a.m. Mountain time on CBS. It is the 2026 edition of the Air Power Legacy Series, designed with Northrop Grumman, and the B-21 theme also runs across merchandise and signage at the stadium that day.

When are the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy games in 2026?

Air Force hosts Navy on October 3 and plays at Army on November 7. Army and Navy meet on December 12 at MetLife Stadium to finish the round robin. Air Force has won the trophy twenty-one times, more than either of the other academies, and Navy has held it the last two seasons.

How many games does Air Force play in 2026?

Twelve regular season games: seven at Falcon Stadium, the most home dates since 2022, and five on the road, with a bye on September 19. Three of them are Friday nights. The full schedule with expected uniforms is in the grid above.