"National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year: Implementing Trump's 'Peace Through Strength' Agenda"
This report provides an in-depth deconstruction of the U.S. "National Defense Authorization Act" ( ), analyzing how it comprehensively implements the Trump administration's strategic agenda of "peace through strength." The content spans from restoring military lethality, reforming acquisition processes, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and strengthening border security to specific military force development, investments in cutting-edge technologies, and targeted measures against major strategic competitors (China, Russia, Iran). It presents a comprehensive and authoritative internal assessment of the shift in U.S. defense policy and the priorities of military force development.
Detail
Published
10/01/2026
Key Chapter Title List
- REFORMING ACQUISITION TO DELIVER FOR OUR WARFIGHTERS
- REVITALIZING THE DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE
- RESTORING LETHALITY & THE WARRIOR ETHOS
- SECURING THE BORDER
- BUDGET SAVINGS & REFORMS
- IMPROVING SERVICEMEMBER QUALITY OF LIFE
- BUILDING READY, CAPABLE, LETHAL FIGHTING FORCES
- STRENGTHENING STRATEGIC DETERRENCE, MISSILE DEFENSE, & NATIONAL DEFENSE SPACE CAPABILITIES
- FOSTERING INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY
- DETERRING CHINA
- DEFENDING ISRAEL
- COUNTERING OTHER ADVERSARIES
Document Introduction
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY26 NDAA), led by the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. The act is positioned as the core legislative tool for fully implementing the Trump "Peace Through Strength" agenda, aiming to fulfill the promise of building a ready, capable, and lethal armed force to deter adversaries. By codifying 15 presidential executive orders and 30 administrative legislative proposals, the act systematically shapes the priorities of defense policy, resource allocation, and military operations.
The report begins by outlining the act's core direction: to completely reverse "wokeism" and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within the defense establishment, restoring a performance-based military culture focused on the core mission of lethality. Subsequently, the report elaborates in detail across multiple dimensions. Regarding defense management, the act proposes an acquisition reform plan named "SPEED," designed to deliver needed capabilities to warfighters faster and at scale by accelerating requirements generation, simplifying decision-making layers, prioritizing commercial off-the-shelf solutions, reforming cost accounting standards, and developing a mission-focused acquisition workforce. Concurrently, the act authorizes nearly $900 billion in defense budget and plans to achieve nearly $20 billion in savings by cutting DEI activities, climate change-related programs, retiring legacy platforms, and streamlining bureaucracy.
In the realm of force building and readiness, the act focuses on "restoring lethality," explicitly prohibiting biological males from participating in female sports competitions, abolishing all Department of Defense DEI programs and offices, and significantly reducing climate change program expenditures. The act details massive investments for shipbuilding, aircraft, combat vehicles, munitions, and emerging technologies (hypersonics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, etc.) to maintain and expand U.S. military advantage. Furthermore, the act vigorously advances the "Golden Dome" national missile defense plan and fully supports nuclear force modernization, space capability development, and defense energy independence, particularly the deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technology.
Geostrategy and foreign security cooperation are another focus of the act. The report clearly identifies China as the United States' core strategic competitor. The act demonstrates a commitment to comprehensive competition and decoupling with China by extending the "Pacific Deterrence Initiative," funding key technologies to counter the Chinese Communist Party, and implementing a series of stringent measures to completely exclude China from the U.S. defense supply chain. The act also strengthens military cooperation and assistance to Israel, including fully funding joint missile defense projects and establishing a defense industrial cooperation working group. Simultaneously, the act details strategies for dealing with "other adversaries" such as Russia, Iran and its proxies, and North Korea, including requiring allies to share the cost of troop deployments, authorizing limited aid to Ukraine (while emphasizing that European allies should bear the primary cost), combating Iran-backed terrorist organizations, and maintaining military deployments on the Korean Peninsula.
The final section of this report focuses on improving servicemember quality of life, including increasing pay and allowances, reforming dining and housing programs, expanding healthcare and childcare services, and strengthening career transition assistance, aiming to maintain troop morale and recruitment appeal. Based on the text of the act, the entire report systematically outlines the potential roadmap for U.S. defense strategy, resource allocation, and military transformation driven by a specific political agenda, providing researchers and analysts in related fields with detailed first-hand policy basis and an analytical framework.