US proposes $1.01 trillion defense budget for 2026
Sailors assigned to the USS Tripoli arrive at Commander Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan, June 23, 2025. Photo from US Department of Defense website.
By: Manuel Mogato | Published: June 29, 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Washington – US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a huge $1.01 trillion defense budget for 2026, focusing on high-tech missiles and drones.
The defense budget proposal represented a 13.4 percent increase from fiscal year 2025, includes $848.3 billion for the discretionary budget and $113.3 billion in mandatory funding through congressional reconciliation.
“This historic defense budget prioritizes strengthening homeland security, deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific [region], revitalizing the defense industrial base, and maintaining our commitment to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” a senior defense official told reporters.
Senior US defense officials briefed reporters on the administration’s defense spending plan.
According to a senior defense official, the $113 billion in mandatory reconciliation funding would address the president’s priorities, including shipbuilding, missile defense, munitions production and quality-of-life initiatives for the nation’s warfighters.
Divided across the department, the proposed budget breaks down to $197.4 billion for the Army, $292.2 billion for the Navy, $301.1 billion for the Air Force and $170.9 billion defense-wide, the senior defense official added.
Included in the Air Force’s proposed budget is $40 billion toward the Space Force, which represents a 30% increase in funding from fiscal year 2025, a senior military official said.
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Some of the allocations in the proposed budget include:
$25 billion toward an initial investment in the proposed Golden Dome for America comprehensive missile defense initiative;
$60 billion toward nuclear enterprise modernization, including all three legs of the nation’s nuclear triad;
$3.1 billion for continued F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet production;
$3.5 billion in funding for the Air Force’s planned F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance fighter jet platform;
Funding for 19 new Navy battle force ships while maintaining 287 ships across key platforms;
$2.5 million for nuclear shipyard productivity enhancements;
$6.5 billion invested in conventional and non-hypersonic munitions and $3.9 billion in hypersonic weapons;
$15.1 billion invested in cybersecurity to ensure joint, all-domain maneuvering while protecting U.S. interests in cyberspace;
$1.3 billion for industrial base supply chain improvements;
$2.5 billion for missile and munitions production expansion; and
$1.2 billion for the Office of Strategic Capital’s loan program, meant to attract private investment in national security projects.
In addition to material, the senior defense official said the president’s budget also addresses military readiness and training, as well as quality-of-life improvements for service members and their families.
“At nearly $160 billion, the FY26 budget request funds DOD readiness to a historic high to meet the planned employment of forces,” the senior military official said, adding that the budget also includes a 3.8 percent pay raise and a $5 billion investment in unaccompanied housing for service members.
The proposal also recommends some notable reductions, including DOD’s cancellation of its E-7 Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft program due to what the official described as “survivability concerns in a contested environment.”
The military official also stated the budget recommendations include reducing procurement of the F-35 Lightning II stealth strike fighter from 74 to 47 aircraft.
At the same time, increased funding would go toward modernization of the jet’s capabilities, as well as roughly $1 billion allocated for investment in spare parts to address the F-35’s sustainment and readiness challenges, the military official said.
Additionally, the senior defense official noted that the proposed budget reflects Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Feb. 20, 2025, order to refocus the budget.
“[The refocusing] identified nearly $30 billion in FY25 efficiencies and reductions,” the defense official said, adding that those reductions — along with contract caps and grant savings identified by the Department of Government Efficiency — have allowed for a fiscal realignment into “high priority programs — increasing lethality and readiness.”
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