Big Winners in the 2026 NDAA: F-47 NGAD, Munitions, Shipyards and Allies

Key Points and Summary – The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act couples nearly $900 billion in defense spending with a rare dose of bipartisan clarity.

-Lawmakers trim legacy bureaucracy and climate add-ons while streamlining acquisition, creating portfolio acquisition executives and faster requirements to field new tech at speed.

-The bill protects key aircraft from premature retirement, doubles down on F-47 NGAD, CCA, submarines and shipyards, and pours billions into Stingers, Javelins, Tomahawks and LRASMs under multi-year buys to rebuild surge capacity.

-It also hardens U.S. posture in Europe and Asia, tying troop levels and security cooperation to a long-term strategy of deterring China and Russia.

The NDAA the U.S. Military Needs 

In a divided Washington, the policy bill strengthening and overseeing the U.S. military is a rare and welcome vestige of bipartisanship.

As the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) moves through the Senate toward the president’s desk this week, some key priorities are worth highlighting.

Foremost is praise for Congress providing the necessary resources to match what the nation asks of those in uniform.

By exceeding past spending thresholds, Congress has chosen to do what is required over what is easiest.

The White House request was $892.6 billion, and the policy bill’s topline was around $900 billion.

This—plus the generational investment into the military from the OBBBA reconciliation—provides the resources to repair, rebuild, and bolster hemispheric defense while simultaneously restoring deterrence in Asia.

Removing Red Tape

While weapons make for big headlines, they are determined, planned, and purchased within the massive defense bureaucracy.

Rightsizing the size and reach of Uncle Sam has been a goal of successive administrations and Congresses with little by way of major progress—particularly speed of acquisition action.

Capitol Hill cut nearly $20 billion from nondefense spending in the military’s budget, outdated bureaucracy, and inefficient programs in the latest policy bill.

Examples include $1.6 billion from climate change spending and another $6.8 billion in shrinking Pentagon headcount.

In alignment with two branches of government, the bill streamlines decision-making by consolidating program management into a single person—the portfolio acquisitions executive (PAE)—and creating an accelerated requirements process to field rapid solutions from industry.

Reducing redundant decision-making bodies is a way to speed up processes and get warfighters newer tech, faster.

Readying for War

The best military in the world must always be ready, and the bill tackles challenges across the services. It mandates that amphibious ships receive a proportional share of ship maintenance funds. This is important as GAO found just a year ago that half of the amphib fleet is in poor condition—keeping our premier crisis response force on the sidelines of action.

Lawmakers have also zeroed in on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which delivered aircraft late all of 2024 by an average of 238 days.

Given our diminishing conventional deterrence, Congress is pushing the services and industry to step up and do better when it comes to maintenance and, therefore, availability of key weapons on time.

Bolstering Flagging Combat Power

Lawmakers are also making sizeable investments into direct military capabilities via combat credible systems across the services.

To arrest the Air Force’s readiness “doom loop” the service needs to retain some legacy tails while not spending too much on its oldest gear while going full steam ahead on a sixth-generation fighter and maintaining a cheaper force multiplier plane.

Luckily, Congress is going to do just that, authorizing $38 billion for procurement and development of aircraft, including full funding of the F-47 next-gen fighter and the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).

In 2026, the Air Force hopes to divest or retire 339 tails, conversely hoping to buy a total of 76 new aircraft (14 of which are trainer). Given this lopsided recapitalization rate that will further diminish readiness as quickly as the service can build it, the bill prohibits the retirement of certain A-10s and F-15Es. While it would yield savings, retirements should not be accelerated in the absence of a replacement on hand.

The Navy has explained that its shipbuilding failures are, in part, due to its own historic underinvestment. This must be fixed with more investment as a key demand signal for long-term planning.

Shipbuilding won big with $26 billion, including one Virginia-class submarine and advanced procurement for future ones. These funds are also helpful in keeping AUKUS on track as a demonstration of both capability and capacity.

Replenishing War Bins

The defense policy bill aims to rebuild the Western arsenals of democracy with the ability to scale production to replenish stocks as grinding wars of attrition drag on.

Congress said “not this time” to munitions accounts constantly being the billpayer for the Pentagon. The defense policy bill authorizes over $25 billion to replenish munitions, including Stingers, Javelins, Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs), and Tomahawks.

Plus, legislators are allowing select multi-year munitions contracts as a gateway to building surge capacity.

Further, the NDAA enables the Pentagon to use its Industrial Base Fund to make capacity investments in the wider defense manufacturing base. The bill also directs the Pentagon to remove any regulatory barriers that dis-incentivize contractors from maintaining surge capacity, which is required in a protracted war.

Preserving Partners and Alliances

Retaining a robust posture in key theaters is a bulwark for deterrence. The defense policy bill prohibits the Pentagon from reducing U.S. forces forward postured in Europe to below 76,000 troops (for more than 45 days) and prohibits drawdowns in South Korea below 28,500.

The bill also includes security assistance to Ukraine ($800 million over two years), requires modernizing the Philippines’ military, and establishes a joint program with Taiwan to develop uncrewed and counter-uncrewed systems.

In addition, the Pentagon will be required to create a security cooperation initiative among our own industrial base and those of our Pacific allies. It has a wide range of functions—including promoting co-production and sustainment—a proven model of success in rebuilding capacity and surging in crises.

Passing the Must-Pass Bill

Massive investments like that achieved in reconciliation cannot stand alone. Real change requires an investment in tail and political follow-through. The 2026 NDAA provides a framework to codify the generational combined investment into America’s armed forces this fiscal year and should be cheered.