Contents

• Introduction
• Background
• DOD FY2026 Proposed Budget, Including Reconciliation Funding
• Congressional Action on the DOD Discretionary Funding Request
• Funding for Selected Weapon Systems
• Aircraft and Related Weapon Systems
• Communications and Space-Based Systems
• Communications Systems
• Space-Based Systems
• Ground Systems
• Hypersonic Weapons
• Missile Defense
• Missiles and Munitions
• Shipbuilding and Maritime Systems

Summary

The second Trump Administration's Department of Defense (DOD) budget request for FY2026 included $848.3 billion in discretionary funding and $113.3 billion in mandatory funding (DOD is "using a secondary Department of War designation," under Executive Order 14347, dated September 5, 2025). Of the discretionary funding portion, the Administration requested a combined total of $295.3 billion in procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) funding, including proposed amounts for various weapon systems of congressional interest. Congress may decide to approve, reject, or modify such proposals.

By way of background, in its FY2026 budget request, DOD included two types of funding: mandatory funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in an FY2025 reconciliation law (later enacted as P.L. 119-21) and discretionary funding that DOD requested for Congress to authorize and appropriate for FY2026 as part of a base budget (i.e., recurring costs to staff, train, and equip the armed forces). For FY2026, to varying degrees, DOD proposed allocating both mandatory and discretionary funding for programs, projects, and activities associated with weapon systems procurement and RDT&E.

DOD has described its FY2026 budget request as making "generational investments" in Administration priorities, including in air and missile defense, the Air Force's F-47 next-generation fighter aircraft, and shipbuilding. Relative to amounts Congress authorized and appropriated for FY2025, DOD's FY2026 request also proposed increasing funding for certain hypersonic weapons programs and space-based systems. At the same time, DOD's FY2026 request proposed reducing funding for other weapon systems, such as certain ground systems, the Navy's F/A-XX next-generation fighter, and the Air Force's E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft—changes that could lead to program delays or cancellation.

During consideration of proposals for a National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA; later enacted as P.L. 119-60) and a Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026 (later enacted as Division A of P.L. 119-75), Members of Congress proposed providing more funding, the same amount, or less funding than the President requested for selected weapon systems. The enacted versions of the bills authorized and appropriated more funding than DOD requested for the Virginia-class submarine, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and E-7A Wedgetail, and less funding than requested for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft, among other changes. Appropriators diverged from the amounts requested and those authorized for several weapon systems, including by providing more funding than requested for the Medium Landing Ship, C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft, and the F/A-XX fighter, among others.

Divergent views in the Administration and Congress over perceived threats, defense strategy and requirements, and program performance generated debates over FY2026 funding for weapon systems procurement and RDT&E. Disagreements accompanying Congress's decision to use, for the first time, the reconciliation process to provide additional funding to DOD, and DOD's estimation of how such funds should be allocated to programs, contributed to changes to funding for certain weapon systems. Authorizers and appropriators, for example, disagreed with the Navy's plan to fund the procurement of additional Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyers and a second Virginia-class submarine using resources provided in the reconciliation process instead of the annual authorization and appropriation process. In the enacted NDAA and defense appropriations act, Congress authorized and appropriated more discretionary funding than requested for the destroyers and the Virginia-class submarine.

Introduction

This report addresses actions by Congress on the Trump Administration's FY2026 budget request for Department of Defense (DOD) procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) funding related to programs, projects, and activities for selected weapon systems (DOD is "using a secondary Department of War designation," under Executive Order 14347, dated September 5, 2025).¹ The report provides background information on the Administration's FY2026 request and on defense funding provided in the FY2025 reconciliation law (P.L. 119-21). It details the requested and enacted funding amounts for selected weapon systems and highlights points of difference between the amounts requested and those authorized and appropriated. Except as a matter of background, this report does not address the DOD budget at the account level, nor funding for DOD operations and maintenance, military personnel, military construction, other defense-related activities, or classified funding.

Background

DOD FY2026 Proposed Budget, Including Reconciliation Funding

On May 2, 2025, President Donald J. Trump submitted to Congress a "skinny budget" proposal for FY2026 discretionary funding.² For FY2026, the Administration stated that it intended to allocate, in addition to $848.3 billion in discretionary funding for DOD, a total of $113.3 billion for DOD from mandatory funding that it assumed Congress would provide through the budget reconciliation process, for a total of $961.6 billion.³ On May 30, the Office of Management and Budget released a budget appendix supplement that outlined discretionary funding requested by the Administration for DOD appropriations accounts.⁴ On June 26, DOD submitted additional information on its FY2026 budget proposal to Congress, including funding requested at the line-item level for DOD programs, projects, and activities.⁵ Spreadsheets accompanying the department's submission described such funding by type: "FY 2026 Disc Request" for discretionary funding, "FY 2026 Reconciliation Request" for mandatory funding, and "FY 2026 Total" as the sum total.⁶

DOD prepared and submitted its proposed budget for FY2026 before Congress passed the FY2025 reconciliation law. The department stated that the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) markup of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) served as the basis for, and mostly aligned with, the "FY 2026 Reconciliation Request" amounts in its budget submission.⁷ According to DOD, the mandatory funding provided in the reconciliation law was an "integral part of the DOD FY 2026 topline of $961.6 billion and complements the $848.3 billion in requested discretionary resources."⁸ The latter figure included a combined total of $295.3 billion for account types used to fund weapon systems, including $153.3 billion for procurement and $142.0 billion for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E).⁹

On July 3, 2025, the House passed the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1, which included various changes from the version first introduced by the House.¹⁰ On July 4, President Trump signed the bill into law (enacted as P.L. 119-21). The law included $156.2 billion for defense.¹¹ All funds carried a five-year period of availability, meaning they remain available for obligation until September 30, 2029, and expenditure through FY2034.

P.L. 119-21 specified multiple purposes and dollar amounts for each of the 13 sections in Title II of the act. Some of the funding provisions differed in key respects from the legislative language of annual appropriations acts in that they did not specify the type of DOD appropriations account (e.g., procurement, RDT&E, military construction [MILCON]) to which the funds were to be allocated. Additionally, the enacted bill did not include an accompanying report or explanatory statement linking each bill provision to budgetary line-item appropriation accounts, as is typical for annual appropriations acts.

Some Members of Congress have questioned the degree to which DOD's proposed allocation of reconciliation resources in its FY2026 budget request aligned with reconciliation legislation. For example, in June 2025, Senator Roger F. Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), said the Administration's FY2026 budget "seems to be written as if there are many items in the reconciliation package that simply are not in that bill."¹² Senator Mitch McConnell, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee (SAC-D), questioned why the Administration had not included investments in shipbuilding in its discretionary budget request and instead relied on resources provided through the reconciliation process: "Why are we allocating funds under extraordinary parliamentary authorities for capabilities that would otherwise have been funded in an annual appropriation?"¹³

Some Members have reportedly asked that the department provide details concerning its plan for allocating the resources provided in P.L. 119-21 to specific programs, projects, and activities.¹⁴ In a reported July 22, 2025, letter to Secretary of Defense Peter B. Hegseth (who is using "Secretary of War" as a "secondary title," under Executive Order 14347, dated September 5, 2025),¹⁵ Senator Wicker and HASC Chair Mike D. Rogers provided the secretary with guidance on how the committees intended defense funding provided in the enacted reconciliation law to be allocated, and requested that DOD submit a "spending, expenditure, or operating plan" for such funding by August 22.¹⁶ In October 2025, DOD reportedly submitted a partial, classified spending plan for approximately $90 billion of the $156.2 billion in defense reconciliation funding.¹⁷

Congressional Action on the DOD Discretionary Funding Request

Actions of the congressional defense committees on proposed legislation to authorize and appropriate FY2026 funding for DOD weapon systems have included the following:

• The House Committee on Appropriations (HAC) on June 16, 2025, reported a Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026, and accompanying committee report (H.R. 4016; H.Rept. 119-162). This activity occurred before DOD released on June 26 additional details of its budget request. HAC appears to have based its markup on enacted appropriations for DOD for FY2025 and on the department's FY2025 projection of what it anticipated allocating in FY2026.¹⁸ The House on July 18 passed an amended version of H.R. 4016.
• The Senate Committee on Appropriations (SAC) on July 31 reported a Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026, and accompanying committee report (S. 2572; S.Rept. 119-52).
• HASC on August 19 reported the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, and accompanying report (H.R. 3838; H.Rept. 119-231). The House on September 10 passed an amended version of H.R. 3838.
• SASC on July 15 reported a National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 and accompanying report (S. 2296; S.Rept. 119-39). The Senate on October 9 passed an amended version of S. 2296.

On December 7, HASC and SASC released a negotiated version of an FY2026 NDAA (S. 1071).¹⁹ The House passed the negotiated version, a House amendment in the nature of a substitute to an unrelated Senate bill, on December 10. The Senate passed the House amendment to S. 1071 on December 17, and the President signed the bill into law on December 18 (enacted as P.L. 119-60).²⁰

On January 20, 2026, HAC and SAC released a negotiated version of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026, as Division A of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148).²¹ The House passed H.R. 7148 on January 22. The Senate passed an amended version of H.R. 7148 on January 30; the House passed the amended the version of the bill on February 3. The President the signed the bill into law on February 3 (enacted as P.L. 119-75).

Funding for Selected Weapon Systems

This section details funding amounts and quantities for selected defense acquisition programs that DOD requested as part of President Trump's FY2026 budget. The requested figures include discretionary amounts from DOD's FY2026 budget request to Congress and mandatory amounts from then-proposed FY2025 reconciliation funding that the department anticipated allocating in FY2026.²² CRS based its analysis of funding for such programs in part on the "major weapons system summary" table published in the FY2026 version of the annual DOD budget document Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System,²³ as well as on programs of congressional interest. The amounts presented in this report may not include all costs associated with such programs. For example, amounts associated with military construction (MILCON) and operation and maintenance (O&M) to house and sustain such systems, and for military personnel (MILPERS) to operate such systems, are not included. In some cases, CRS included related programmatic funding that was not included in the DOD document.

Aircraft and Related Weapon Systems

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $68.3 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for aircraft and related systems, including fighters, bombers, tankers and cargo aircraft, attack and utility helicopters, and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS, commonly known as drones).²⁴ Of this amount, DOD requested a total of approximately $54.9 billion for the selected aircraft and related systems detailed in Table 1.²⁵ In its discretionary funding proposal, DOD requested $44.0 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for the selected aircraft and related systems.²⁶ Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would provide $10.9 billion for the selected aircraft in FY2026.²⁷

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $45.0 billion in discretionary funding for the selected aircraft, $1.0 billion more than DOD requested in discretionary resources for such systems (see Table 1). The law authorized more funding than requested for the Air Force E-7A Wedgetail and C-130J Hercules, and less funding than requested for the Navy E-2D Hawkeye, among other changes.²⁸ The enacted NDAA did not include proposals in the Senate-passed version of the NDAA to authorize more funding than requested for certain aircraft development programs, including for the Air Force F-47 and Navy F/A-XX next-generation fighter programs.²⁹

The enacted FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided $49.1 billion in discretionary funding for the selected aircraft, $5.1 billion more than requested (see Table 1). P.L. 119-75 appropriated more funding than requested for the E-7A Wedgetail and C-130J Hercules, and less funding than requested for the E-2D Hawkeye.³⁰ The law also provided more funding than requested for the F/A-XX next-generation fighter aircraft program, among other changes.³¹

Communications and Space-Based Systems

Communications Systems

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $23.2 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) systems.³² In its discretionary budget proposal, DOD requested $1.2 billion in base budget procurement and RDT&E funding for the selected C4I systems detailed in Table 2 in FY2026.³³ Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would not allocate reconciliation funds to the selected C4I systems.³⁴

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized the amount of discretionary funding requested for the selected C4I systems (see Table 2).³⁵ The enacted FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided the amount of funding requested for the selected C4I systems.

Space-Based Systems

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $34.0 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for space-based systems.³⁶ Of this amount, DOD requested $16.2 billion for the selected space-based systems detailed Table 2.³⁷ In its discretionary budget proposal, DOD requested $6.6 billion in base budget funding for the selected space-based systems. Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would allocate $9.6 billion to the selected space-based systems in FY2026.

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $7.1 billion for the selected space-based systems (see Table 2), $0.5 billion more than requested. The FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided $7.4 billion for the requested space-based systems, $0.8 billion more than requested. The law provided more funding than requested for the Position, Navigation, and Timing program, among other changes.³⁸

Ground Systems

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $11.6 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for tactical vehicles, tracked combat vehicles, and weapon systems.³⁹ Of this amount, DOD requested a total of $4.6 billion for the selected ground systems detailed in Table 3.⁴⁰ Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would not allocate reconciliation funds to the selected ground systems in FY2026.⁴¹

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $4.7 billion for the selected ground systems, including more funding than requested for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles program (see Table 3).⁴² The enacted FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided $5.0 billion for the selected ground systems, $0.4 billion more than requested (see Table 3). The law provided more funding than requested for the Paladin Integrated Management the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles programs, and less funding than requested for the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle program, among other changes.⁴³

Hypersonic Weapons

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $13.4 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for offensive and defense hypersonic warfare programs.⁴⁴ Of this amount, DOD requested a total of $3.0 billion for the selected hypersonic warfare programs detailed in Table 4.⁴⁵ In its discretionary budget proposal, DOD requested $2.9 billion in base budget funding for the selected hypersonic warfare programs. Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would allocate $0.1 billion to the selected hypersonic warfare programs in in FY2026.

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $3.2 billion for the selected hypersonic weapons (see Table 4), including more funding than requested for the Air Force AGM-183A Air-Launch Rapid Response Weapon.⁴⁶ The FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided the amount requested for the selected hypersonic weapons.

Missile Defense

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $40.2 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for missile defeat and defense programs.⁴⁷ Of this amount, DOD requested a total of $12.7 billion for the selected missile defeat and defense programs detailed in Table 5.⁴⁸ In its discretionary budget proposal, DOD requested $10.3 billion in base budget procurement and RDT&E funding for the selected missile defense programs. Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would allocate approximately $2.4 billion to the selected missile defense programs in FY2026.

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $13.2 billion for the selected missile defeat and defense programs (see Table 5), $2.9 billion more than requested. The law authorized more funding than requested for the Army Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE), the Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, and the Navy Aegis system, among other changes.⁴⁹ The enacted NDAA did not include a HASC proposal to authorize less funding than requested for the Air Force Ground-based Midcourse Defense program, nor a SASC proposal to authorize more funding than requested for the PATRIOT Lower-Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor program.⁵⁰

The enacted FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided $11.1 billion for the selected missile defense programs (see Table 5), $0.8 billion more than requested. The law provided more funding than requested for the Army PAC-3 MSE program, among other changes.⁵¹

Missiles and Munitions

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $35.7 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for missile and munitions programs.⁵² Of this amount, DOD requested a total of $30.2 billion for the selected missile and munitions programs detailed in Table 6.⁵³ In its discretionary budget proposal, DOD requested $22.6 billion in base budget funding for the selected missile and munitions programs. Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would allocate $7.6 billion to the selected missile and munitions programs in FY2026.

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $25.0 billion for the selected missile and munitions programs (see Table 6), $2.4 billion more than requested. The law authorized more funding than requested for the Air Force LGM-35A Sentinel and the Army Precision Strike Missile, among other changes.⁵⁴ The enacted NDAA did not include a SASC proposal to authorize more funding than requested for the Navy Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile program, among other proposals.⁵⁵

The enacted FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided $23.9 billion for the selected missile and munitions programs (see Table 6), $1.3 billion more than requested. The law provided more funding than requested for the ammunition procurement, among other changes.⁵⁶ The law did not include a SAC proposal to provide more funding than requested for the Air Force Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.⁵⁷

Shipbuilding and Maritime Systems

In its FY2026 budget submission to Congress, DOD requested $65.0 billion in procurement and RDT&E funding for shipbuilding and maritime systems programs.⁵⁸ Of this amount, DOD requested a total of $48.1 billion for the selected shipbuilding and maritime systems programs detailed in Table 7.⁵⁹ In its discretionary budget proposal, DOD requested $21.3 billion in base budget funding for the selected shipbuilding and maritime systems programs (see Table 7). Of the funding that DOD assumed Congress would provide in the 2025 reconciliation law, DOD estimated that it would allocate $26.7 billion to the selected shipbuilding and maritime systems programs.

The enacted FY2026 NDAA authorized $25.4 billion for the selected shipbuilding and maritime systems programs (see Table 7), $4.1 billion more than requested. The law authorized more funding than requested for the Virginia-class submarine, Columbia-class submarine, and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, among other changes.⁶⁰

The enacted FY2026 DOD appropriations act provided $26.2 billion for the selected shipbuilding and maritime systems programs (see Table 7), $4.9 billion more than requested. The law provided more funding than requested for the Virginia-class submarine, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and Medium Landing Ship, among other changes.⁶¹

Footnotes