Well, the $1.5T defense budget is here, friends.
In case you missed it—on Friday, the Trump administration unveiled its FY2027 budget request. As promised, it included a chunk for defense ($1.15T discretionary and $350B mandatory, reconciliation style), larger than the GDP of Turkey.
Yes, that is a real statistic.
On the menu? Big bucks for interceptors, missiles, ships and Trump-class battleships, and critical minerals—all at the expense of education, climate change, and social services programs (like federal housing assistance).
Looks like we’re really leaning into that whole defense thing in the run-up to the midterms.
Big ups: In case you weren’t in the defense tech world a year ago (we’re not judging), the ~$1.5T FY2027 budget is a whole dang 44 percent increase over last year’s ~$1T level.
- Beyond the mind-boggling figures, the whole split-the-bill-between-discretionary-and-reconciliation method seems here to stay. For the blessedly uninitiated, that means that about $1.15T of the budget is, like, normal Pentagon spending, and $350B can be passed by a simple majority in Congress. BBB 2.0.
- So if we’re just looking at discretionary spending—your run-of-the-mill Pentagon budget—things are up about 28 percent from last year.
Spenny: So, where is all that cash money (at least in theory) going to go? Hint: If you read Tectonic regularly, you’ll be more than a little familiar with most of these categories.
First, let’s start with the services.
- The Navy majorly wins out this year—DoN gets $150B. That’s $126B in the budget request, and another $24B in that sweet, sweet reconciliation.
- The Air Force is up next, with $101.2B—$83.4B in the budget request and $17.6B in reconciliation.
- The Army is the least-favorite-child, with $60.5B—$36B in the request and $24B from reconciliation. Major cuts to manned aircraft, and a shift towards missiles and munitions. Tough week for the boys in green.
The Pentagon is also looking to go on a bit of a shopping spree, it seems. The department is planning to spend about $224B buying weapons and over $100B on R&D.
Factories of the future: The topline theme of the FY27 Pentagon budget request is “rebuilding the military.” That means major investments in the nuts, bolts, and production lines that actually, like, ensure you can win a war.
- Critical munitions: According to the request, “one of DOW’s highest funding priorities in the Budget is to rapidly procure twelve critical munitions and invest in our long-neglected defense industrial base.” Those include JATM, SM-3 IB, SM-3 IIA, PrSM, SM-6, TLAM & MST, AMRAAM, JASSM, LRASM, and THAAD, along with “ground-launched low-cost cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons systems.”
- Critical minerals: The budget will “address longstanding shortfalls in the National Defense Stockpile and allow DOW’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program to make transformative investments in our Nation’s critical minerals industry.” All you miners, strap the eff in.
Shipbuilding: This is a big one. According to documents released by OMB on Friday, the Navy is asking for $65.8B “in shipbuilding funding to procure 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships.”
- Yes, that includes the Trump-class battleship first unveiled in December. According to the docs, the budget will establish “President Trump’s Golden Fleet.”
- The budget will also “maintain or increase the procurement of existing battle force platforms, including amphibious vessels, and Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines,” plus all the fun logistics platforms that make a fleet a fleet.
- NOAA is getting $135M for “shipbuilding and unmanned systems (UxS) programs.”
- The administration also wants to add $1.5B for the “Maritime Action Plan,” which will allocate $500M for port infrastructure development program grants, $550M to modify the US Merchant Marine Academy’s campus, $355M for small shipyard and commercial shipbuilding infrastructure grants, and $100M for new workforce development and innovation programs.
And the Navy is looking upwards, too. The service wants an additional $34.4B for aircraft and $140M for its F/A-XX program. Say it with us: Everyone loves a tiny little plane.
Up in the air: The Navy ain’t the only ones who want to spend on aircraft. The Air Force got an R&D boost to the tune of $74.2B (up from $57B last year).
- There is $5B in the Air Force budget for the F-47 stealth fighter, plus about $1B for the CCA program. Everyone! Loves! A! Tiny! Little! Plane!
- The Air Force also seems to be going big on missiles—the service wants about $403M for a hypersonic attack cruise missile, and $11.4B for missiles in total.
- For all the Wedgetail-heads—there is no funding for the beleaguered E-7 in the budget. Pour one out.
Golden Dome: According to OMB and administration documents, the budget “supports development of game-changing space-based missile defense sensors and interceptors, kinetic and non-kinetic missile defeat and defense capabilities, and enabling technologies for a layered, next-generation homeland missile defense system.”
- Trump’s flagship missile defense program would get $17.5B in FY27—but most of that (like, except about $400M) depends on reconciliation.
- Interestingly, the Space Force got a huge boost, especially in terms of (RDT&E) ($38.4B, plus $2.3 in reconciliation) and procurement ($9.6B).
Look ma, no hands: For all you drone makers out there, fear not. The budget “provides unprecedented investments in unmanned and counter-unmanned systems,” according to the administration.
- Big emphasis on cUAS here. The funding would, yes, buy drones but also provide “protection against the proliferation of inexpensive and proliferated unmanned systems by near-peer competitors, rogue states, and non-state actors.”
- The budget topline emphasizes new tech here. The Department wants the funding to “provide flexibility in rapidly maturing technology and delivering a portfolio of capabilities that broaden opportunities for new entrants.” Startups ftw.
- Notably, the Army saw a pretty massive decrease in funding for manned aircraft. Funding for Apaches is down from $361.7M to $1.5M, Chinooks from $629M to $210M, and Black Hawks from $913M down $39.3M.
Brainy: And if you thought we could get through an entire government document without talking about AI, think again.
- The budget will make “historic investments to aggressively scale its AI ecosystem and ensure broad adoption throughout the Armed Forces. This funding includes the development and fielding of new AI capabilities, buildout of new American AI infrastructure, and continued support for the GenAI.mil platform.”
And as if it needed to be said—DEI is a thing of the past in the FY27 budget request (thanks, Russ). OMB says it is “eliminat[ing] millions of wasteful and egregious spending related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and other ‘woke’ policies, sustaining the more than $1.6 billion in reductions that the Administration has already identified.”