In keeping with legislative tradition, a compromise defense policy bill for fiscal year 2026 was released late Sunday, bringing significant adjustments to key Pentagon programs. The document specifically targets military aviation, including Air Force tankers and Army helicopters, marking strategic directions for the future of the US military.
Defense Budget: A Significant Increase with Lingering Questions
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY26 proposes an $8 billion boost above the amount initially requested by the Trump administration for the Pentagon’s budget. While the NDAA holds considerable sway over programmatic outcomes, final funding will be determined by the budget process run by congressional appropriators. „The final topline will depend on what the appropriators work out,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told the Reagan National Defense Forum. „Mostly we like to follow their money, but since they didn’t put a number out there, we can’t move our bill forward with having a number.”
Air and Space: Critical Decisions for the Air Force
The bill introduces substantial changes in the air and space domains:
- Saving the E-7 Wedgetail Program: A hot topic of debate, the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail program had previously been targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration. The NDAA not only proposes preventing its termination but also authorizes a total of $846.7 million to continue the development and procurement of this essential radar plane.
- VIP Transport and Refueling Fleet: The Air Force’s C-40 program, aimed at adding new jets for VIP transport and which had faced skepticism from lawmakers, would receive $250 million authorized for a single aircraft. The bill also mandates a Pentagon-wide analysis, due by April 2026, for recapitalizing the executive airlift fleets of each military service. A major change targets the air refueling fleet: by October 2028, the Air Force would be required to maintain at least 502 tankers in inventory, an increase from the current requirement of 466. Despite previously greenlighting the divestment of the KC-10 Extender, lawmakers are now requiring the Air Force to preserve retired aircraft in storage.
- Halting the Retirement of Older Aircraft: The bill slows down some of the Air Force’s planned retirements, for example, stopping the full divestment of the A-10 fleet in FY26. It also prevents the retirement of any F-15Es in the same fiscal year.
- F-35 Investments and Controversies: Although the bill does not add new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, it includes an extra $250 million boost for spare parts procurement for F-35As and $125 million each for F-35Bs and F-35Cs. However, it collectively trims over $300 million from Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy accounts for the development of the jet’s Block 4 upgrade, citing delays.
- New Frontiers in Space: Surveillance and Commercial Data: The bill directs the Air Force Secretary to coordinate with the DoD undersecretary for intelligence and security to study the „feasibility and advisability of establishing a program of record for tactical surveillance, reconnaissance, and tracking capabilities” (TacSRT) by July 31, 2026—and granting such a program a nod of approval if the study is in favor. This congressional move to codify the Space Force’s pilot program for buying commercial remote sensing data follows a hard-fought agreement between the service and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) inked in May. At the same time, lawmakers will require the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to submit an annual report for the next five years detailing all the requests made to NGA for space-based remote sensing products, including how many were fulfilled, as well as how many were rejected and why. The first such report would be due in February.
The Ground Army: A Mixed Future for the Helicopter Fleet
For the largest branch, the Army, the bill grants new multiyear procurement authority to buy Black Hawk UH-60s beginning in fiscal year 2027. This decision comes as the Army’s Transformation Initiative has spurred cuts to its aviation portfolio and prioritized the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program.
- Black Hawk Modernization, an Unexpected Victory: Earlier this year, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George sidestepped lawmakers’ questions related to the future of the Black Hawk, focusing instead on accelerating FLRAA production, which is partly set to replace the Black Hawk. However, months later, Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, Program Acquisition Executive of Maneuver Air, told reporters at AUSA that „fundamentally, we’re not getting rid of Black Hawk anytime soon. We’re all going to be off this earth, and Black Hawk is still going to be flying.” He added that it’s not a matter of if Black Hawks will be a part of future fleets, but more the question of how many will fly. Furthermore, Gill said at the time that when it comes to Black Hawks, the service is primarily focused on the modernization of the fleet. It appears Gill’s wish came true, as the compromise NDAA authorizes an additional $100 million for Black Hawk modernization.
- FLRAA: Towards Early Production: The bill also gave authorization to initiate early production of the FLRAA, stating that „[t]he Secretary of the Army may enter into contracts, in advance of full-rate production, for the procurement of future long-range assault aircraft as part of an accelerated low-rate early production effort for such aircraft.” The bill also calls for Driscoll to brief Congress no later than 180 days after the enactment of the NDAA on the implementation plan and timeline for the early production effort for FLRAA, the status of industrial base readiness and supply chain coordination for early production, and estimated long-term cost savings and operational benefits „expected to be derived from such early production effort.”
