Congress seeks to boost Navy and Air Force fleets in 2026 bill
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — An Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) signals an E-2D Hawkeye aircraft, on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), July 12, 2024. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON - The House Appropriations Committee's Defense subcommittee released its draft bill for fiscal-year 2026 late on Tuesday, which aims to buy one additional F-35 jet versus the Pentagon's 2025 budget request and make investments in naval vessels, and missile defenses.
The powerful committee's draft of its version of the 2026 purchasing bill was released ahead of any formal input from the Trump administration's Pentagon - which has been delayed. The language in the bill shows the Republican-controlled Congress' continued focus on modernizing the U.S. armed forces but sets up a tug of war with the Pentagon over what could be conflicting priorities.
The bill, which still needs input from the full House and Senate, directs the Pentagon to buy 69 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters for $8.5 billion, 15 Boeing KC-46 aerial refueling tankers for $2.7 billion, and three F-15EX aircraft for $345 million as well as $3.8 billion in funding for Northrop Grumman's B-21 stealth bomber program.
The Pentagon's 2026 budget request, which has not been released, requests 47 F-35s, according to media reports.
The Navy's non-fighter aviation procurement includes four E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft for $1.2 billion and 19 CH-53K heavy transport helicopters for $2 billion.
The bill also emphasizes missile defense, with approximately $13 billion to Missile Defense Agency and the Space Force program's support of the "Golden Dome" initiative. This money would be above the approximately $25 billion that Congress has earmarked for Golden Dome in its reconciliation bill.
The committee's draft bill would also give military personnel a 3.8% increase in basic pay, effective January 1, 2026.
The bill directs the Pentagon to procure 28 naval vessels, including two Virginia-class submarines made by General Dynamics at $6.2 billion. The Columbia-class submarine program would receive $5.3 billion. Both programs have additional funding for advance procurement underscoring the strategic importance of the United States' underwater fleet.
Surface fleet additions would include two DDG-51 destroyers, refueling ships, towing and rescue ships and surveillance vessels.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis // REUTERS)
