The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 18, 2025, after it passed the US House of Representatives and Senate with wide margins.
The passage marked the 65th consecutive time the NDAA received approval, making it one of the most enduring pieces of bipartisan legislation in US history.
The law authorizes $900.6 billion for the US Department of War (DOW), nuclear security programs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and related national security activities, roughly $8 billion above the presidential budget request. The NDAA procurement plan includes $26 billion for shipbuilding, $38 billion for aircraft, and $4 billion for ground vehicles, and $25 billion for munitions, among others.
NDAA emphasizes maintaining US technological superiority through significant investments in key emerging technologies, acquisition reforms to speed up decision-making, and supply chain security. It directs resources toward technologies critical for future military operations and for achieving “decision superiority” over adversaries.
The DOW is focused on the rapid integration of AI into operations to achieve operational efficiency and decision superiority through Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI).
The goal is for AI systems to act as reliable “teammates” in planning and execution, with a strong emphasis on accountability and traceability. The act provides over $2.6 billion for hypersonic programs, recognizing their importance in modern warfare.
Significant investment is allocated to space-based systems, including missile-warning, missile-tracking, and next-generation intelligence-collection satellites.
Advanced technologies, such as deploying nuclear reactors on the Moon, are being developed to ensure US space dominance. The legislation targets resources for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), uncrewed maritime platforms, and counter-UAS technologies.
The NDAA addresses the need for data-driven logistics management tools to handle potentially disrupted supply lines in future conflicts.
Provisions are included to secure US biotechnology supply chains against foreign adversaries and to strengthen the recruitment and retention of a skilled cyber workforce through new hiring authorities. The budget includes investments for developing quantum computing capabilities that advance US technical superiority.
To ensure these technologies are fielded quickly, the NDAA encourages several changes. The act highlights speed and urgency and is designed to ensure warfighters receive urgently needed capabilities, embracing an “acceleration imperative” that requires faster development and deployment cycles.
The Administration is signaling openness to new suppliers and investment models, including private capital, to build a more resilient and innovative defense industrial base.
The overall aim of the FY2026 NDAA regarding technology is to leverage innovation into tactical advantages on the battlefield, thereby maintaining America’s military superiority.
Transforming Warfighting
The NDAA reforms focus on accelerating requirements, centralizing program management, and embedding sustainment planning to avoid costly readiness gaps and overruns. NDAA revises acquisition rules to prioritize “best value” instead of “lowest overall cost” and emphasizes “price competition.”
It requires the defence acquisition system to expeditiously provide the Armed Forces with the capabilities needed to operate in the most cost‑effective manner possible.
The NDAA fortifies the defence industrial base by deepening allied integration, expanding funding and hiring authorities for critical supply chains, and streamlining cybersecurity and technology transfer.
It directs the DOW to harmonize cybersecurity rules for the defense industrial base by June 01, 2026. A key provision requires the DOW to build a digital inventory of weapon‑system technical data to prevent sustainment gaps.
It creates a U.S.-Israel Defense Industrial Base Working Group to study deeper integration and potential inclusion of Israel in the national technology and industrial base, with protections for sensitive information.
It directs the War Secretary to produce a technology framework to revise transfer and foreign disclosure policies for artificial intelligence (AI), counter-unmanned aircraft systems (c-UAS), missile defence, and other topics. It emphasises the need for contractors to maintain or invest in surge capacity, and the steps to address it.
Major Weapon Systems
The bill advances missile defence by enforcing the Golden Dome policy.
“The Iron Dome for America” requires that every major weapon system have a designated product support manager responsible for sustainment, planning, and readiness outcomes to achieve availability targets.
The Bill sets policy to deploy and maintain a “next-generation missile defence shield” capable of defending against complex ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats.
It bars the Pentagon from outsourcing missile intercept capabilities to private or subscription-based models. The Secretary of War must develop and operate a missile defence system with kinetic missile capabilities that is “owned and operated” by the armed forces.
It authorizes US funding for Israeli missile defence programs, including up to $60 million for Iron Dome, $40 million for David’s Sling, and $100 million for the Arrow 3 interceptor, with requirements for co‑production in America.
There is significant authorization for funding dedicated to research, development, testing, and evaluation to advance hypersonic weapons, with a focus on new materials, prototyping, and expanded test infrastructure to accelerate fielding and readiness.
It directs the DOW to evaluate additional airspace and range options to expand testing and training for hypersonic and long‑range weapons, including safety, infrastructure, and launch requirements.
It grants multiyear procurement authority for low‑cost hypersonic strike systems, ensuring stable production and long‑term investment in R&D to accelerate development and deployment.
Advanced Manufacturing and Critical Materials Processing
The Act requires demonstration and prototyping programs to incorporate advanced manufacturing facilities that can rapidly produce parts closer to where they are needed, and quickly convert commercial manufacturing into defence production.
It directs the DOW to establish a working group on the advanced manufacturing workforce within 180 days to combat shortages in industrial base career fields. Launches a pilot program to test advanced manufacturing construction technologies (including 3D printing) on specific military installations. It requires that the strategic plan for advanced manufacturing be updated periodically.
It establishes a “Stockpile Manager” and strengthens the DOW’s ability to acquire and store critical materials. Expands the “Strategic Materials Recovery and Reuse Program” to address material shortfalls, including the recycling and recovery of critical minerals.
This provision promotes the reuse of materials from defence systems to support long-term strategic supply security and reduce reliance on foreign sources.
Supply Chains
Act strengthens the DOW’s supply‑chain resilience by prioritizing production of critical readiness items, particularly those with long lead times or high prices. It also aims to speed up the qualification process for secondary suppliers, reduce overreliance on a single source within each military department, and fast-track approvals for alternate suppliers.
DOW is to develop a strategy to eliminate its reliance on optical glass for computer displays manufactured in some of the mentioned nations, including China, by 2030.
Plan to establish a voluntary online registry of suppliers compliant with US sourcing laws, granting them procurement preference as trusted US suppliers.
The Act adds molybdenum, gallium, and germanium to the list of restricted strategic materials that cannot be sourced from adversary nations, including China. It allows exceptions for recycled material processed in the US or allied countries.
Air Power
The NDAA boosts Air Force procurement spending, authorizing $28.1 billion, an $800 million increase. It authorizes a C-40 Clipper, a military version of the Boeing 737-700 for executive airlift. It clears a new LC-130 “Skibird” cargo aircraft, as well as F-35A spare parts, and more Joint Strike Missiles and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles.
Research and development spending is being increased to nearly $54 billion (nearly two-thirds of India’s total defence budget). The biggest increases are adding $1.2 billion to the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile and $647 million to keep the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.
Air Force plans to gradually replace its aging E-3 AWACS aircraft with up to 26 E-7s. The E-7 will have the airborne battle management and targeting mission accomplished with a combination of space-based systems and a few extra Navy E-2D Hawkeyes. Air Force operations and maintenance programs get a substantial increase for “campaigning and exercises,” with much of that focused on the Pacific.
Air Force aircraft divestment plans did not resonate with lawmakers, who ordered the Air Force to refrain from retiring 102 A-10 close-air-support jets and 21 F-15E fighters. The NDAA also extends prohibitions on retiring RQ-4 drones, B-1 bombers, and Air National Guard C-130 transports.
Drones & Counter-Drones
The Act advances US defenses against emerging unmanned threats by expanding training and testing infrastructure and establishing task forces and partnerships to strengthen c-UAS resilience across the armed services.
At the same time, the Act enhances protections for critical facilities and integrates drones and counter‑drone measures into public safety and homeland security frameworks. It requires the Secretary of the Navy to investigate and adopt advanced technologies that improve Navy surface ship maintenance and prioritize drone-based inspection for uncrewed structural surveys.
A task force will be formed to manage c-UAS efforts. The task force will also be responsible for integrating c-UAS solutions at the DOW and coordinating interagency efforts to develop, test, evaluate, and procure counter-small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS).
Establishes a working group to analyze the sUAS supplier base and recommend investments. sUAS components include battery systems. Authorizes the development of an additional range complex to train, test, and experiment with UAS and c-UAS capabilities.
Establishes a pilot program to accelerate the protection of critical DOW facilities and assets from threats posed by UAS. Extends and amends the existing US-Israel defence cooperation program to address threats posed by unmanned systems across all war-fighting domains.
Directs the DOW to implement measures to protect critical facilities and assets from UAS threats and authorizes c-UAS measures to mitigate unmanned aircraft threats. Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to include drone protection measures for critical infrastructure and public safety. Protection of nuclear facilities and CIA installations from unmanned aircraft is covered.
Munitions
The NDAA authorizes more than $25 billion to rebuild the U.S. munitions arsenal and directs the US Army to expand robotic automation in manufacturing for safety, efficiency, and workforce training.
The Act strengthens planning by requiring reporting on missile defence systems and assessing critical stockpiles for simultaneous conflicts. Finally, the Act grants multiyear procurement authority for key missile systems, allowing the armed forces to enter long‑term contracts for missiles and interceptors such as Patriot PAC‑3, THAAD, Tomahawk, JASSM, LRASM, SM‑3, AMRAAM, and others so that the services can prepare for investment.
Requires the DOW to include adversary operational plans and allied demand in munitions planning and align production levels with future defence programs. Mandates regular reports on munitions response projects, detailing contracts, delays, and challenges. Directs the Army to expand robotic automation in munitions manufacturing to boost safety and secure factory integration.
Shipbuilding & Maritime
More than $26 billion is for naval shipbuilding, including Columbia‑class and Virginia‑class submarines, DDG‑51 destroyers, the Ford‑class aircraft carrier, one anti‑submarine warfare auxiliary ship, and two Ship‑to‑Shore Connector landing craft.
The bill strengthens the maritime industrial base by accelerating automated shipbuilding, expanding hiring and workforce authorities, and making adjustments in procurement. Requires the Navy to develop a strategy within 180 days to strengthen the maritime industrial base and address shipbuilding cost and schedule challenges.
Creates a three-year pilot program using automatic shipbuilding technologies to cut construction time and ease workforce strain.
Establishes a pilot program within the DOW to create governance and oversight mechanisms for small uncrewed maritime systems. Requires the US Coast Guard to develop within 180 days a plan to expand joint training with the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration.
Space
The Act strengthens the US Space Force by refining leadership structures, expanding training roles, and requiring oversight before proposed new commands are created.
The Act also accelerates satellite development through streamlined acquisition and ensures next‑generation systems include key payloads. Extends the Space Development Agency’s authority to use the streamlined middle-tier acquisition process for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
This allows rapid prototyping and fielding of satellite tranches.
US space funding involves significant allocations to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for exploration (Artemis, Mars) and science, alongside a growing defence budget for the Space Force to secure space superiority.
NASA focuses on human spaceflight (Artemis), science (telescopes, probes), and aeronautics, but faces major proposed cuts in the FY2026 budget request (down to $18.8B from ~$25B), threatening science missions and the workforce.
The Space Force got a major R&D boost, going from $3.9 billion to $4.4 billion, and increased defence funding for satellite protection, situational awareness, and space control, aiming for “space superiority.”
Other defence entities also receive funding for space-based assets, integrated with national security. Private investment fuels companies like SpaceX, Varda, and others through venture capital and acquisitions, with a focus on launch, satellites, and in-space services. Growing competition, particularly with China, drives investments in advanced space capabilities for national security and economic dominance.
To Summarise
Chinese and Russian advances in technology over the last decade have rightfully caused anxiety among the US Administration and strategic thinkers, who worry about the significant challenges to US military and technological superiority.
Russia and China are considered ahead of the US primarily in hypersonic missiles, with operational systems like Russia’s Kinzhal & Zircon and China’s DF-17, and in counter-space/anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities, alongside advanced drone swarms and increasing integration of AI in military doctrine.
China also leads in sheer scale of ground-launched conventional missiles, while Russia excels in advanced air defence (S-400/500) and nuclear deterrence systems. China has an edge in critical mineral processing and semiconductor manufacturing.
Technology definitely changes the character of war. But when new technology arrives on the battlefield, another technology soon counters it.
The revolutionary developments, such as artificial intelligence, have the potential to change the nature of war because nonhuman intelligence might not only assist human decision-making but even replace it in some cases. The ability to appraise and react to any situation better and faster than an opponent offers an unparalleled advantage in warfare.
The theory of victory focuses on leadership’s decision-making, and this idea is arguably the single most important theoretical concept undergirding current US and Western military doctrines. Likewise, the Chinese military’s emphasis on informatisation relies on similar assumptions.
Today, advanced technologies such as uncrewed vehicles, electronic warfare, cyber, hypersonic weapons, and systems enabled by artificial intelligence have reached maturity. Cyber and artificial intelligence reside primarily outside the physical domains. Airpower can now do more than ever before, and there is a need to review doctrines accordingly.
Space power is expanding across all instruments of national power. However, there is no universal consensus on how to apply space power. Whether space should be weaponized, and where the astronomical limits of space power lie.
Weaponisation is nearly here. Whether space capabilities should be more brown-water (supporting terrestrial warfare) or blue-water (operating more independently) remains an open question.
The United States, China, and Russia will drive space weaponisation. India and others will follow.
AI has the potential to be one of the most revolutionary technologies, changing the nature of war. The emerging and related fields of nanotechnology and quantum computing will impact warfare, particularly in the vital field of information warfare and in applications for air forces.
Machine-based super-intelligence has the capacity to address many of humanity’s weaknesses; it must also be tightly controlled, lest it evolve, expand, and act in unpredictable and dangerous ways. AI might be the first military technology in history to proliferate itself and to turn against its creators.
Hypersonic weapons can be both conventional and nuclear. How emerging technologies affect crisis bargaining, deterrence, and conflict dynamics is evolving.
The hypersonic technology may affect potential dispute dyads, such as the United States/Taiwan-China. The range of implications of the incorporation of hypersonic technologies among major powers is becoming increasingly appealing.
Despite the name “uncrewed aircraft,” drones still require extensive support, and personnel are involved at all levels, whether flying them remotely, refueling them on the ground, or providing airfield security.
Will expensive manned platforms be made redundant by ballistic missile, cruise missile, and hypersonic missile technologies? Unlikely. A missile-centric variant of airpower can offer the most flexible, versatile, and cost-effective means to launch long-range anti-surface and air-air missiles.
Small, less-expensive uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) are proliferating, with the endurance, payload, and intelligence to perform the missions of manned aviation, and at economies that outperform surface-to-air defences. But counters are already being put in place, and effectiveness is declining.
The space-based assets are themselves under siege, as antisatellite weapons from terrestrial launchers and space-based swarms target the satellite constellation. Focus is on gaining or maintaining an advantage in space.
A smaller nation like North Korea can launch ballistic missiles that can release thousands of micro-projectiles into space that indiscriminately destroy adversary satellite constellations in orbit.
The world is on the verge of an enormous transformation in warfare. A first-mover nation can seize a technological advantage and then launch a preemptive attack to achieve victory quickly.
Ultimately, the FY2026 NDAA is more than a budget bill; it’s Washington’s candid admission that time is not on its side. Facing serious threats from China and Russia in hypersonics, counter-space, etc., the U.S. is betting big on faster decisions, tougher supply chains, and ruthless acceleration to reclaim military edge.
For the US and its allies like India and Japan, the message is loud and clear: the wars of tomorrow will be won by the side that turns ideas into capabilities quickest.
- Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retired) is an Indian Air Force veteran, fighter test pilot, and ex-director-general of the Center for Air Power Studies. He has been decorated with gallantry and distinguished service medals during his 40-year tenure in the IAF.
- He tweets @Chopsyturvey
- Follow EurAsian Times on Google News
