What’s in the Record-Setting Defense Budget?
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance fires a Tomahawk in support of Operation Epic Fury in February 2026. The Navy is asking for a 1,200% increase in the production of Tomahawk long-range land attack missiles. (US Navy photo)
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As part of the White House’s broader fiscal 2027 budget request, the Office of Management and Budget laid out plans to hike defense spending by budgeting $1.15 trillion in the base budget request and an additional $350 billion from a reconciliation bill, reports Breaking Defense.
Most of the $17.5 billion in funding sought for President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome project depends on a reconciliation bill, reports Federal News Network. Relying on unusual budget maneuvers has the missile defense system program on “unstable footing,” said Todd Harrison, an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow and defense budget expert, reports Defense One. “If they have not been able to move the main funding lines into the base budget, because reconciliation is highly unlikely to continue beyond FY27, then where does all the Golden Dome funding go in FY28?”
The Pentagon wants funding in 2027 for twice the number of ships that were requested the previous year. The shipbuilding request for $65.8 billion is among the highest ever since the Korean War, reports USNI News. The proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget would include capital to manufacture 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships.
Included in the proposed fiscal 2027 budget is a pay raise for lower-ranked enlisted service members, reports Navy Times. All troops ranked E-5 and below would receive a pay raise of 7%. The budget also allots 6% pay increases for military personnel ranked E-6 and O-3, as well as 5% raises for those O-4 and above.
The Navy is asking for a 1,200% increase in the production of Tomahawk long-range land attack missiles at a cost of $3 billion in the proposed budget, reports Navy Times. The service needs to replenish its stockpile of the missiles that have been depleted over the course of the Iran war.
US Vice President JD Vance said no progress was made after 21 hours of negotiations with the Iranian delegation over the weekend, reports Washington Examiner. Vance, speaking to reporters after a marathon day of negotiations toward a peace agreement, said the lack of progress was “bad news for Iran.”
Trump said on Sunday that the US would impose a naval blockade at the Strait of Hormuz, reports The Washington Post on MSN. The president said he had instructed the US Navy to interdict all ships that have paid a toll to Iran for traversing the strait, calling Tehran’s expanded control of the waterway “EXTORTION.” “We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” Trump wrote.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has announced it will hold an industry day event to conduct market research on the air-launched Standoff Attack Weapon, or SoAW, on June 17 at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine. Those interested in attending must apply by June 1.
The US Air Force is offering up to $50,000 annual bonuses to keep its aviators in the service, reports Task & Purpose. Those eligible can receive up to $50,000 a year for a maximum of 12 years, or $600,000 total, to stay in the Air Force.
Since Trump ordered all US government departments to stop using AI vendor Anthropic products, small defense industry artificial intelligence startups have been fielding calls from military officials and investors, reports Defense News. New defense-focused AI companies such as Smack Technologies and EdgeRunner AI say they have experienced a shift in interest. Anthropic was blacklisted after telling the Pentagon that it would not allow its AI model to be used for the surveillance of Americans or the development of weapons that fire without human involvement, Politico reported in February.
The Washington, DC, Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week against Anthropic in its bid to block the Defense Department designating it as a “supply chain risk,” reports Washington Examiner. On Wednesday, the court ruled against granting it a preliminary injunction, though the court agreed a speedy final decision was needed.
The Pentagon is obstructing reporters and defying a March court order that required it to restore access to credentialed journalists covering the Department of Defense, US District Judge Paul ruled last week, reports The Hill. Friedman said the DoD must comply with his order from March 20 that sided with The New York Times and found the Pentagon’s press policy from last year to be unconstitutional.
The Orion spacecraft Integrity splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07pm (EST) Friday, ending the Artemis 2 mission around the moon, reports Space News. NASA reported the four astronauts on board—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—were in good condition as recovery crews worked to extract them from the capsule and take them by helicopter to a US Navy ship, the USS John P. Murtha.
One of the Navy’s dive medical teams, part of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group ONE, had the job of greeting the Artemis 2 crew, reports Task & Purpose.
The US Air Force is inviting artificial intelligence companies to submit proposals to build potentially a dozen data centers on 4,700 acres located across Air Force and Space Force installations in Alaska, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Britain deployed military vessels to prevent any attacks on undersea cables and pipelines by Russian submarines which spent more than a month in British waters earlier this year, reports Defense News. Britain Defense Minister John Healey accused Russia of using the distraction of events in the Middle East to try to conduct the covert operation in the High North maritime region.
A federal grand jury has charged Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, NC, with the willful transmission of national defense information, a violation of the Espionage Act, reports Military Times. The former Army employee with a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance was arrested April 8 and charged with leaking information to a journalist.
Contracts awarded in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., April 9-10, 2026:
AtkinsRealis USA Inc., Tampa, Florida (W912DY-26-D-0017); Covalus Inc., Dallas, Texas (W912DY-26-D-0019); Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia (W912DY-26-D-0020); Endeavor Initial Outfitting LLC,* Ocoee, Florida (W912DY-26-D-0021); Go Energistics LLC,* Dallas, Texas (W912DY-26-D-0022); Holitna Construction LLC, Anchorage, Texas (W912DY-26-D-0023); Renaissance Global Services LLC,* Holmdel, New Jersey (W912DY-26-D-0025); SRM Group LLC doing business as VWI,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (W912DY-26-D-0026); Strategic Medical Equipment Solutions,* Monument, Colorado (W912DY-26-D-0028); Walsh Construction Co. II LLC, Chicago, Illinois (W912DY-26-D-0029); and Workplace Solutions Inc.,* Jacksonville, Florida (W912DY-26-D-0030), will compete for each order of the $720,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for initial outfitting and transition program services, including project management, interior design, equipment planning and purchasing, transition and relocation planning, warehousing, installation, technical inspection, training, and post-occupancy evaluations for identified construction projects at locations within the United States and select overseas sites. This total cumulative face value is $720,000,000. Bids were solicited via the internet with 14 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 7, 2033. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Engineer and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
Arctos Technology Solutions LLC, Beavercreek, Ohio (FA2391-26-D-B006); University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio (FA2391-26-D-B007); Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia (FA2391-26-D-B008); Northrop Grumman Aeronautic Systems, El Segundo, California (FA2391-26-D-B009); Innoveering LLC, Bohemia, New York (FA2391-26-D-B010); and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Palmdale, California (FA2391-26-D-B011), were awarded a shared ceiling $200,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for research and development for multidisciplinary, aerodynamics, and structures technologies research. This contract provides basic, applied, advanced, and demonstration and validation research to develop and demonstrate, integrate, and transition new aerospace vehicle technologies to the warfighter. Work will be performed at the contractor’s facility and is expected to be completed by April 9, 2037. These contracts were competitive acquisitions and eleven offers were received. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds up to $15,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is being awarded a $36,439,220 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-award-fee, and cost-only contract modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-15-C-5151) for new construction test support, post-delivery, fleet readiness, in-service ship integration and test, modernization waterfront integration test support, and AEGIS Ashore Planning. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (44%); San Diego, California (19%); Norfolk, Virginia (18%); Bath, Maine (10%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (9%), and is expected to be completed by July 2028. If all options are exercised, work will continue through July 2028. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,413,559 (50%); fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,246,503 (22%); fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,143,180 (14%); fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,805,820 (13%); and fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $194,959 (1%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $6,441,462 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
CORRECTION: The contract announced on April 1, 2026, for Tyto Government Solutions Inc., Reston, Virginia (FA8218-26-F-B001), for $ 51,384,801,016 was announced with an incorrect amount. The correct amount is $51,384,801. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
