The Trump administration began rolling out its fiscal 2027 defense budget last week, requesting about $1.5 trillion, including a $1.1 trillion base budget and $350 billion in mandatory funding through reconciliation, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
“The Budget builds upon the historic $1 trillion overall Defense topline for 2026,” an OMB fact sheet said. “The mandatory funding protects key priorities such as providing flexibility in maturing technology for delivery and allowing for acquisition approaches for portfolios of capabilities that broaden opportunities for new entrants.” More detailed Pentagon budget documents had not yet been released.
The proposal increased funding for several aircraft and weapons programs. It included nearly $1 billion to begin procuring Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones, $822 million for related modifications, and almost $1.4 billion for research and development. It funded 85 F-35s, up from 47 in fiscal 2026, and another 24 F-15EX fighters.
The budget appeared to cut more than $4.2 billion from B-21 Raider procurement, though the reason was unclear, while Long Range Strike-Bomber research and development funding was largely steady at $2.86 billion. It included no research, development, or procurement funds for the E-7 Wedgetail, setting up a potential new dispute with Congress after lawmakers blocked a cancellation plan last year.
Other Air Force and Army priorities included $2.14 billion for the MV-75A Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, reduced engineering and manufacturing development funding for the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, nearly $2.94 billion for AIM-260 missiles, and new procurement funds for hypersonic weapons including the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile and AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon.
The budget also sought higher purchases of existing munitions, including Precision Strike Missiles, Tomahawks, and Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missiles. For missile defense, it proposed $17.5 billion for the Golden Dome initiative.
The Navy requested about $65.8 billion to procure 34 ships in fiscal 2027, including 18 Battle Force ships. That included two Virginia-class attack submarines, one Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, one Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and the first FF(X) frigate, along with other support vessels.
The Space Force topline rose from $40 billion to $71.2 billion. Its request included more than $7 billion for space-based air moving target indicator capability, just over $1 billion for ground moving target indicator capability, and $1.56 billion for proliferated low Earth orbit satellite communications.
Congress can still change the proposal, and the administration is also expected to seek additional supplemental funding for operations against Iran and munitions replenishment.