GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who flies the RC-26 as a pilot in the Air National Guard and has pushed to save the plane from extinction, told CNN that the shift appears to be a move by the Air Force to demilitarize the plane as quickly as possible in order to prevent any last-ditch effort to save it.Kinzinger also said that he met with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall this year to make the case for keeping the RC-26 operational but was told in very stark terms that would not be possible.But despite self-imposed limits to the types of operations that can be flown by RC-26 National Guard pilots, Air Force leaders have now decided they no longer want to fund piloted reconnaissance assets for border and counter-drug missions, asserting that unmanned drones can be offered up to fill that need, Kinzinger said.“Given there is no Air Force specific RC-26B validated requirements nor dedicated funding to support sustainment of the weapons system,” Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told CNN, “the Air Force is moving forward with the retirement of the aircraft.”Supporters of the aircraft, including Kinzinger, say that the Air Force does not currently have a plan to replace the capabilities provided by the RC-26 if the program is shuttered.A law enforcement official who previously spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity said getting rid of the RC-26 would take away the biggest advantage officers have over drug trafficking organizations that are currently “flooding the market” with large quantities of fentanyl and killing swaths of Americans in the process."