Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act: Defense Budget and Military Construction

Key Chapter Title List

1. Procurement Authorization: Army, Navy, Air Force Programs
2. Research, Development, Test and Evaluation
3. Military Operations and Maintenance
4. Military Personnel Strength and Policy
5. Healthcare Provisions
6. Acquisition Policy, Management, and Related Matters
7. Department of Defense Organization and Management
8. General Provisions (Finance, Naval Vessels, Counterterrorism, etc.)
9. Civilian and Military Personnel Affairs
10. Foreign Affairs (Assistance, Cooperation, and Regional Security)
11. Cooperative Threat Reduction
12. Space Activities, Strategic Programs, and Intelligence Matters
13. Cyberspace-Related Matters
14. Military Construction Authorization
15. Department of Energy National Security Program Authorization
16. Schedule of Appropriations

Document Introduction

This report is Senate Report 119-39 submitted to the 119th United States Congress, aiming to consider and pass the original proposal for the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026" numbered S. 2296. This act is the core legislative document used annually by the U.S. Congress to establish defense policy, authorize defense spending, stipulate military personnel strength, and set the relevant legal framework. The Senate Armed Services Committee of the 119th Congress considered and passed this report on July 15, 2025, and recommended the bill for passage.

The report has a grand structure, divided into multiple main parts. The core part (Subtitle A) focuses on authorizations for the U.S. Department of Defense itself, covering areas from weapon and equipment procurement (such as the Columbia-class submarine, medium landing ships, B-21 bomber, F-35 program), cutting-edge technology research and development (including hypersonics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing), to daily military operations and maintenance, military personnel policy (including recruitment, training, benefits, healthcare), and acquisition policy reforms aimed at enhancing efficiency and innovation. The report also delves into optimization of internal organization and management within the Department of Defense, cybersecurity, space warfare capability building, and security cooperation matters with foreign allies and partners.

The report reflects the Committee's strategic assessment of the United States' current most dangerous threat environment since World War II, emphasizing the need to counter the axis of aggression posed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. To this end, the total discretionary authorization for defense programs in Fiscal Year 2026 recommended by the bill reaches $925.8 billion, which includes $879.3 billion for the Department of Defense base programs and $35.2 billion for Department of Energy national security programs. This reflects the Committee's intent to modernize the Department of Defense's budget and acquisition processes and rebuild the democratic arsenal to maintain U.S. military technological superiority through increased budgets and driving major reforms.

The content of the bill is highly specific, containing not only macro-level authorizations but also detailed requirements and oversight for specific programs, technologies, and policy directions in the form of numerous special interest items. For example, the report calls for accelerating the hypersonic attack cruise missile program, assessing limitations of the Navy's unmanned surface vessel program, developing a roadmap for transforming the Air Force bomber force, prohibiting the retirement of the A-10 attack aircraft before a specific date, focusing on small unmanned aircraft system threats and countermeasures, strengthening the defense biotechnology strategy, assessing the resilience of the industrial base (especially the ammunition supply chain and hypersonic material manufacturing), and enhancing allied cooperation and deterrence initiatives in key regions such as the Indo-Pacific. These directive contents provide authoritative basis for understanding the priority areas and potential challenges in U.S. defense construction for Fiscal Year 2026.