FY2025 Budget Request: Department of Defense-Military (Subfunction 051)
CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
INSIGHTi
FY2025 Budget Request: Department of Defense-Military (Subfunction 051)
October 21, 2024
On March 11, 2024, the Biden Administration released an FY2025 budget requesting a total of $7.5 trillion in budget authority. Of this total, $850 billion (11.35%) covered discretionary spending for Department of Defense (DOD) military programs (Budget Subfunction 051) and $22 billion covered mandatory spending for DOD military programs. This CRS Insight summarizes requested discretionary spending, end strength, and acquisition efforts for this budget subfunction (See Table 1).
DOD’s discretionary budget request—also called the base budget—presents the Administration’s view of the funding required to implement the National Defense Strategy by staffing, training, and equipping the armed forces under acceptable risk within spending limits established by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5). The base budget request excludes DOD unfunded priorities and supplemental funding requests.
Congress annually determines whether to authorize and/or fund individual line items in the base budget at amounts greater than, less than, or equal to the Administration’s requested figure.
How does Congress utilize DOD’s budget request?
Congress assesses the Administration’s budget request through committee hearings, markups, floor debates, and votes to determine which DOD military programs should be authorized and funded at particular dollar amounts. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees (HASC and SASC) generate versions of a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to authorize particular programs at particular dollar amounts. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees (HAC and SAC) generate versions of a Department of Defense Appropriations Act and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act to appropriate public funds toward authorized DOD Military programs.
Accessing authoritative data sources to evaluate DOD’s budget request
Congressional staff seeking authoritative DOD budget request information may consult several authoritative sources. The Office of Management and Budget’s website for the President’s Budget situates DOD funding alongside other agencies through a budget appendix and historical tables. Each federal agency is also required by law to make its unclassified budget request documents available on an agency
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website. DOD provides summary budget documents on its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) website, including an FY2025 defense budget overview, an overview of acquisition program costs, and a set of funding tables known as the Green Book containing DOD-specific historical data and future cost estimates. The DOD CFO website also contains spreadsheets summarizing requested dollar amounts for each appropriation account at the line-item level, called “Dash-Ones” because of their document titles. Finally, each armed service provides detailed budget justifications on its own agency website, including narrative descriptions connecting programs to defined mission areas. For ease of access, the DOD CFO’s budget website provides links to these agency websites.
Congressional staff seeking authoritative information from these data sources may find discrepancies among dollar values for a given appropriation account due to variation in OMB and DOD methodologies for constructing funding tables. Table 1 provides summary information based upon DOD’s Defense Budget Overview, cross-referenced to OMB’s DOD Budget Appendix. Since Congress had not enacted FY2024 appropriations when DOD submitted its FY2025 budget request to Congress, Table 1 takes FY2024 enacted values from explanatory statements accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42) and Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-47).
Table 1. Department of Defense FY2025 Budget Request (Base)
(by major appropriation title in billions of nominal dollars of budget authority)
Appropriation
FY2023
Enacted
FY2024
Enacted
FY2025
Request
Dollar Change
FY2024 Requested
-FY2025 Requested
Percent Change
FY2024 Requested
-FY2025 Requested
Military Personnel $174.0 $176.2 $181.9 +$5.6 +3.2%
Operation and Maintenance
$318.5 $318.5 $337.9 +$11.4 +3.5%
Procurement $162.8 $171.3 $167.5 -$3.8 -2.2%
RDT&E $139.4 $147.7 $143.2 -$4.6 -3.1%
Other $2.2 $1.8 $1.7 -$0.1 -6.3%
Subtotal, Defense Bill $796.9 $823.6 $832.2 +$8.6 +1.0%
MILCON $16.7 $16.7 $15.6 -$1.1 +6.7%
Family Housing $2.3 $2.0 $2.0 -$0.0 -0.3%
Subtotal, MILCON Bill $19.0 $18.7 $17.5 +$1.1 +6.0%
Total, DOD Base Budget
$815.9 $842.3 $849.8 +$7.5 +0.9%
Source: Department of Defense, Defense Budget Overview: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, p. A-7; FY2024 Enacted values based on CRS analysis of legislation and floor amendments. Notes: FY2023 Actual excludes $35.8 billion supplemental funding. See Ibid., p. A-10. FY2024 Enacted excludes supplemental funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific Security enacted as Divisions A, B, and C of P.L. 118-50 . “Other” includes Revolving and Management Funds and Offsetting Receipts.
Figure 1 displays FY2025 requested amounts by appropriation, as a percentage of the $850 billion total.
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Figure 1. Department of Defense FY2025 Budget Request (Base)
By major appropriation title as percentage of total base budget request
Source: CRS analysis of Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Defense Budget Overview: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, p. A-7. Notes: “Other” includes Revolving and Management Funds and Offsetting Receipts.
Figure 2 provides historical context, displaying congressional appropriations of DOD budget authority from FY1948 through the FY2025-FY2029 Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).
Figure 2. Department of Defense Budget Authority by Public Law Title, FY1948-FY2029
In billions of constant FY2025 dollars
Source: CRS analysis of Department of Defense, National Defense Budget Estimates for FY2025, April 2024, Table 6-8.
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Notes: FY2025 through FY2029 values reflect requested or projected amounts. Military personnel amounts include “Retired pay, defense.” “Other” includes Revolving and Management Funds; and Trust, Receipts, and Other. DOD’s April FY2024 Green Book does not incorporate FY2024 enacted funding. As a result, FY2024 values reflect requested, not enacted values. Figures exclude War Outyear Placeholder.
DOD FY2025 Requested End Strength (Troop Levels)
End strength refers to the total authorized quantity of servicemembers on hand at the end of a fiscal year. DOD requested Congress to authorize 1.28 million active duty servicemembers and 0.77 million reserve servicemembers for FY2025. Table 2 provides a breakout of these requests by service component.
Table 2. Department of Defense FY2025 End-Strength Request
in number of servicemembers
Military Service
FY2023 Actuals
FY2024
Enacted
FY2025
Requested
Change
FY2023-
FY2025
Change
FY2024-
FY2025
Army 453,551 445,000 442,300 -11,251 -2700
Navy 332,322 337,800 332,300 -22 -5,500
Marine Corps 172,577 172,300 172,300 -277 0
Air Force 318,698 320,000 320,000 +1,302 0
Space Force 8,879 9,400 9,800 +921 +400
Total Active Duty 1,286,027 1,284,500 1,276,700 -9,327 -7,800
Army Reserve 176,680 174,800 175,800 -880 +1,000
Army National Guard 325,066 325,000 325,000 -66 -
Navy Reserve 55,072 57,200 57,700 +2,628 +500
Marine Corps Reserve 33,036 32,000 32,500 -536 +500
Air Force Reserve 66,216 69,600 67,000 +784 -2,600
Air National Guard 104,974 105,000 107,700 +2,726 +2,700
Total, Selected Reserve 761,044 763,600 765,700 +4,656 +2,100
Grand Total, DOD 2,047,071 2,048,100 2,042,400 -4,671 -5,700
Source: CRS analysis of Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Defense Budget Overview: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, pp. A-5, A-6; and CRS analysis of the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-47 at House of Representatives, Congressional Record, vol. 170, (No. 51), Book II (March 22, 2024), p. H1507. Notes: “Actuals” refers to the quantity of personnel on hand at the end of FY2023 (September 30, 2023). whereas “enacted” refers to authorized end strength which may or may not match actual end strength by the end of the FY2024.
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Figure 3. Department of Defense Active Duty End Strength by Service, FY2000-FY2025
Source: CRS analysis of DOD appropriations acts, DOD budget requests, and Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs’ Defense Manpower Profile Reports. Notes: FY2000-FY2023 = actual end strength. FY2024 values = enacted (authorized). FY2025 values = requested.
FY2025 Combat Force Structure Overview
DOD’s military personnel requirements are closely associated with the organization and structure of each service’s combat forces. Table 3 reports the department’s FY2025 requested combat force structure.
Table 3. Department of Defense Requested FY2025 Combat Force Structure Overview
Service FY2023 FY2024 FY2025
Change
FY2024-FY2025
Army Active
Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) 31 31 31 -
Combat Aviation Brigades 11 11 11 -
Army National Guard
BCT 27 27 27 -
CAB/Theater Aviation Brigade 10 10 10 -
Army Reserve
CAB 2 2 2 -
Navy
# of Battle Force Ships 291 296 287 -9
Carrier Strike Groups 10 10 10 -
Marine Corps Active
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Service FY2023 FY2024 FY2025
Change
FY2024-FY2025
Marine Expeditionary Forces 3 3 3 -
Infantry Battalions 21 21 21 -
Marine Corps Reserve
Marine Expeditionary Forces 0 0 0 -
Infantry Battalions 8 8 8 -
Air Force Active
Combat Coded Squadrons 43 42 40 -2
Aircraft Inventory 3,915 3,796 3,735 -61
Air Force Reserve
Combat Coded Squadrons 3 3 2 -1
Aircraft Inventory 295 315 290 -25
Air National Guard
Combat Coded Squadrons 20 20 18 -2
Aircraft Inventory 954 921 878 -43
Source: Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Defense Budget Overview: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, p. A-4. Notes: FY2025 values reflect force structure as requested in March 2024. DOD’s FY2025 budget request documents did not include FY2024 enacted values. As a result, FY2024 figures reflect requested, not enacted, FY2024 values.
The combat force structure overview provides a net quantity for aircraft inventory and battle force ships. The net quantity includes new acquisitions and retirement or divestment of aircraft and ships. The FY2024 NDAA (P.L. 118-31, Section 151) required DOD to submit a budget exhibit “that includes the savings built into the budget for force structure retirements and divestments submitted with the President’s Budget request.” Table 4 provides DOD’s reported FY2025 aircraft and ship retirements/divestments and associated summary cost savings.
Table 4. FY2025 Department of Defense planned retirement/divestments
of Ships and Aircraft by Service
Quantity and expected cost (savings) in millions of nominal dollars
System/Service Quantity
FY2025
Estimated Cost
(savings)
Aircraft
Air Force 251 ($2,589.8)
Army 83 ($62.6)
Marine Corps 48 ($159.4)
Navy 75 ($203.5)
USSOCOM 27 ($18.8)
Aircraft Total 484 ($3,034.1)
Navy Ships Total 19 ($224.7)
Grand Total 503 ($3,258.8)
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Source: DOD, Report on Force Structure Changes for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Defense Budget, April 2024, p. 8. Notes: Justifications for each retirement/divestment are included in the source document.
Figure 4 reports DOD’s FY2025 total requested investments in the RDT&E and Procurement appropriations, sorted by weapon system type and mission area.
Figure 4. Department of Defense Combined RDT&E and Procurement Investments,
FY2025 Requested
In billions of nominal dollars
Source: Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, p. 1. Notes: Total covers all DOD RDT&E and Procurement budget requests. Categorization is selected by DOD “to simplify display of the various weapon systems being developed and procured in FY2025.” Science & Technology includes RDT&E budget activities 1-3. C4I refers to command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence.
Table 5 provides more detail on selected weapon system investments in each mission area (excluding “Science & Technology” and “Mission Support Activities.”) Hyperlinks in the table’s left column provide one-page narrative descriptions of each program, along with links in the center column to selected CRS products contextualizing the program.
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Table 5. Selected Department of Defense Major Weapon Systems, FY2025 Requested
Combined RDT&E and Procurement funding in millions of nominal dollars
Major Weapon System Program Title
FY2025 Requested
Aviation and Related Systems – Joint Service
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (airplane) (RL30563, IF12357)
$12,430.8
V-22 Osprey (tilt rotor aircraft)
$538.8
C-130J Hercules (cargo airplane) (IF10546)
$806.0
MQ-1C Gray Eagle (uncrewed aircraft)
$30.5
MQ-9 Reaper (uncrewed aircraft)
$305.1
MQ-4C / RQ-4 Triton/Global Hawk/NATO AGS (uncrewed aircraft)
$750.1
AO Armed Overwatch / Targeting (propeller driven airplane)
$337.5
Aviation and Related Systems – US Army (USA)
AH-64E Apache: Remanufacture/New Build (attack helicopter) (IF10546)
$659.9
CH-47 Chinook (heavy cargo helicopter)
$720.3
UH-60 Black Hawk (medium cargo helicopter) (IF10546)
$792.2
FLRAA Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (tilt rotor aircraft)
$1,260.2
Aviation and Related Systems – US Navy (USN)
MQ-25 Stingray (uncrewed re-fueling aircraft)
$898.0
F/A-18 Super Hornet (fighter airplane) (IF10546)
$1,805.6
E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (air control airplane)
$499.1
CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement Helicopter
$2,685.0
Aviation and Related Systems – US Air Force (USAF)
B-21 Raider (strategic bombing aircraft) (R44463, IF12357)
$5,338.5
B-1, B-2, B-52 Bombers (strategic aircraft)
$1,394.4
KC-46A Pegasus Tanker (air to air re-fueling aircraft) (RL34398)
$2,973.3
VC-25B Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization
$433.9
F-22 Raptor (fighter airplane)
$1,629.7
F-15 Eagle (fighter airplane) (IF11521, R46801)
$2,361.1
HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter
$243.9
T-7A Advanced Pilot Training (T-7 trainer airplane and simulators)
$319.2
MH-139A Grey Wolf (medium cargo helicopter)
$333.4
E-7A Airborne Warning and Control System Replacement (IF12045)
$418.5
C-40 C-40 Fleet Expansion (commercial derivative airplane)
$328.7
C4I Systems – USA
TNT Tactical Network Technology
$280.8
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Major Weapon System Program Title
FY2025 Requested
HMS Handheld, Manpack, and Small Form Fit Radios
$708.4
C4I Systems – Joint Service
Cyberspace Cyberspace Activities
$3,958.8
CJADC2 Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) Programs (communications)
$1,433.0
Ground Systems – Joint Service
JLTV Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (armored all-terrain vehicle) (IF11729)
$1,179.5
Ground Systems – USA
M-1 Abrams Tank Modification/Upgrades
$1,020.2
AMPV Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (personnel carrier)
$527.7
NGSW Next Generation Squad Weapon
$389.4
PIM Paladin Integrated Management (cannon upgrades)
$460.2
Stryker Stryker Family of Armored Vehicles (eight-wheeled vehicles)
$469.4
M10 M10 Booker (Mobile Protected Firepower) (light tank)
$508.7
FMTV Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (four-wheeled trucks)
$153.5
FHTV Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (heavy equipment transport)
$148.9
XM30 XM30 Combat Vehicle (Bradley Replacement) (armored, optionally-manned ground combat vehicle) (IF12094)
$504.8
Ground Systems – USMC
ACV Amphibious Combat Vehicle (IF11755)
$870.5
Missile Defense Programs – Joint Service
GMD Ground-based Midcourse Defense (intercontinental ballistic missile interceptor) (IF10541)
$2,526.2
THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (highly mobile short- and medium-range ballistic missile interceptor) (IF10541)
$639.9
Aegis Sea-Based Weapons System (ballistic missile defense) (RL33745)
$1,307.7
Missile Defense Programs – USA
PATRIOT / PAC-3 PATRIOT Advanced Capability (anti-air missile) (IF10541)
$1,006.7
PAC-3 / MSE PAC-3/Missile Segment Enhancement (IF10541)
$963.1
Missiles and Munitions – Joint Service
JDAM Joint Direct Attack Munition
$200.4
SDB I Small Diameter Bomb I
$42.3
SDB II Small Diameter Bomb II
$454.1
JASSM Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (IF11353)
$1,008.6
AIM-9X Air Intercept Missile - 9X
$259.4
AMRAAM Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile
$810.2
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Major Weapon System Program Title
FY2025 Requested
Chem-Demil Chemical Demilitarization
$775.5
JAGM Joint Air-to-Ground Missile
$148.1
LRASM Long Range Anti-Ship Missile
$696.8
AMMO Ammunition
$5,160.0
AARGM-ER Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile
$826.2
GMLRS Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System
$1,241.9
Javelin Javelin Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System
$398.1
Missiles and Munitions – USA
PrSM Precision Strike Missile (IF11353)
$676.6
Missiles and Munitions - USN
Trident II Trident II Ballistic Missile Modifications (IF10519)
$2,465.7
SM-6 Standard Missile-6
$1,223.5
RAM Rolling Airframe Missile
$160.2
NSM Naval Strike Missile (IF11353)
$206.1
Tomahawk Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile (IF11353)
$765.4
Missiles and Munitions – USAF
LGM-35A Sentinel (IF11681) (ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile)
$3,731.9
LRSO Long Range Stand-Off Weapon (nuclear-capable cruise missile) (IF10519, IF12357)
$833.8
Shipbuilding and Maritime Systems – USN
CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford Class Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (RS20643)
$2,339.4
SSBN 826 (R41129) Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarine
$9,879.7
SSN 774 Virginia Class Submarine (RL32418)
$8,209.3
DDG 51 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
$7,071.3
FFG(X) Constellation Class Guided Missile Frigate (R44972)
$1,278.1
CVN Refueling Complex Overhaul
$1,738.3
LPD 17 San Antonio Class Amphibious Ship (R43543)
$1,653.0
T-AO 205 John Lewis Class Fleet Replenishment Oiler (R43546)
$261.2
USV Medium and Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (R45757)
$185.2
LHA America Class Amphibious Assault Ship
$234.4
LSM Medium Landing Ship (R46374)
$274.1
Space Based Systems – USSF
NSSL & RSLP Launch Enterprise (IF11531)
$2,397.8
GPS III & Projects Global Positioning System Enterprise
$1,519.7
OPIR Space Based Missile Warning Systems
$4,677.8
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SATCOM Projects Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Projects
$4,203.0
Source: Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System [PACWS]: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, pp. xv-xvi. Notes: For more information on each program, see individual sections of PACWS, pp. 1-1 through 7-5.
Author Information
Cameron M. Keys Analyst in Defense Logistics and Resource Management Policy
Disclaimer
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