Defense Spending on CrossGov.com

CRS Tells Congress to Weigh Icebreaker Funding and Command Coordination as Russia Rebuilds Its Arctic Forces

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Congressional Research Service report of October 14, R49487, asks Congress to judge Russia’s Arctic build-up against what Washington is funding: icebreakers, command coordination and allied plans.

The report, “Russia’s Arctic Military Posture: Considerations for Congress”, is mostly about Russia. Its value for Washington is in what it lists as open questions for lawmakers, and in what it leaves out.

GAO Finds GPS Modernization Still Behind After DOD Cancels the OCX Ground System and Army Aviation Waits to 2049 for M-Code

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

GAO reported on October 7 that the Pentagon’s GPS upgrade is still behind schedule after DOD canceled OCX, the ground control system it had funded for years. The report, GAO-27-107676, says the fix creates new risks for the next satellites and that secure M-code receivers will reach some aircraft only in 2049.

Congress asked for the review. The fiscal 2025 NDAA widened an older reporting mandate, from the fiscal 2016 NDAA, so that GAO now covers the alternatives to GPS as well as GPS itself. Those alternatives matter because GPS signals are weak and easy to jam.

Pentagon Acts as Investor and Bulk Buyer With 25,000 APKWS Kits a Year and Supplier Stakes, but Congress Holds the Money

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon signed a framework with BAE Systems on October 19 for up to 25,000 APKWS guidance kits a year for up to seven years, but Congress still has to approve and fund it. The same week, the department’s technology chief talked up loans and equity stakes in suppliers. The Pentagon wants to be a long-term customer and a shareholder at once. Both roles run through Capitol Hill.

The APKWS kit turns an unguided 2.75-inch rocket into a laser-guided one. All four services use it, and it has become a cheap way to shoot down drones. BAE builds the kits in Hudson, New Hampshire, and Austin, Texas, and delivered its 100,000th in February. The framework also sets out a path to 35,000 kits a year if allies place orders through Foreign Military Sales.

Pentagon Invites Governors to Bid for the First New US Military Base Since 1985, With Congress Still to Approve the Money

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon has asked every governor to compete to host a new joint base for 15,000 to 25,000 troops, the first since 1985. States must offer land and fast permits. Congress must still authorize and fund it, and three weeks on no plan for picking a site has been published.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the “Next Great American Base” in a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30 and in a memo the same day. The memo describes a hardened joint installation within the homeland, shared by more than one service, on hundreds of thousands of acres. Hegseth called it a self-sustaining power projection platform. It would run off the commercial grid on its own power, with modern air defenses, new housing, health care and child care, and classical architecture.

The Iran War Cost Dispute Is Becoming a Test of Congressional Oversight

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The fight over the cost of the Iran war has reached a basic question of government accountability: should Americans be allowed to see the financial damage from a military campaign they are paying for? Five Democratic senators have written to CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper demanding public disclosure of estimated damage to American military bases and facilities. Their intervention follows a classified briefing in which Cooper supplied damage estimates to lawmakers. The information exists, in other words. The dispute is over why the public cannot see an unclassified accounting of it.

Japan's Prime Minister Calls the US Military Curfew 'Insufficient' After the Okinawa Killing as Pressure Builds to Revise the Status of Forces Agreement

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on October 13 that the curfew US forces imposed on Okinawa after a local woman was killed is “insufficient.” She said Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi had made “very strong requests” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and to the US ambassador, George Glass.

Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, a Marine based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested on October 4 over the killing of Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on October 3. He denies the charges. The case went to prosecutors on October 5. No charges have been announced. Stars and Stripes has obtained security footage that appears to show him near the victim on October 2.

Pentagon Clears a Second Destroyer for Bath Iron Works, Reversing Its Own FY2027 Budget Three Weeks Before Collins's Election

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon has approved a second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, Roll Call reported on October 13. The fiscal 2027 budget request had funded only one destroyer, within a $65.8 billion shipbuilding request. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg said the yard had shown that “sustained performance is essential.”

The decision still needs money from Congress. The House defense appropriations subcommittee’s bill includes one destroyer. The Senate hasn’t released its bill.

Pentagon Quietly Revises the Iran War Toll to 21 Dead and 865 Wounded as Lawmakers Demand an Explanation

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On Friday October 9 the Pentagon updated its Defense Casualty Analysis System, the official database of military casualties. The war with Iran now counts 21 US service members killed and 865 wounded, Stars and Stripes reported.

The figures are split in two. Operation Epic Fury, from February 28, accounts for 15 deaths and 417 wounded. A separate category for “overseas operations” since July 7 accounts for 6 deaths and 448 wounded. In July the Pentagon told AP that Epic Fury had ended and that renewed fighting would be recorded under the new heading.

Congress Faces a December 11 Cliff: Government Funding, the NDAA, the Farm Bill and the Cyber Sharing Law All Due After the Midterms

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When Congress comes back after the November 3 midterms, it will have about five weeks before several deadlines land on the same day. The stopgap funding law, H.R. 6500, signed on September 2, keeps the government open until December 11. The same law carries the National Flood Insurance Program, the 2015 cyber threat-sharing law, surface transportation authority and the EPA’s chemical fee program to that date.

The farm bill has already lapsed. The defense policy bill is stuck in the Senate. And a long list of health and tax items runs out on December 31.

The Pentagon's $1.5 Trillion Request Meets a Stalled NDAA and a Stopgap That Funds Defense at $838 Billion

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The fiscal 2027 budget asked Congress for $1.5 trillion for national defense, a 42% jump. The Pentagon is starting the year on $838.5 billion, under a continuing resolution that runs to December 11 and bars new programs. The annual defense authorization bill, which Congress has passed every year for more than six decades, is stuck in the Senate.

The gap between what was asked and what exists is the widest in years.

Iran War Costs Reach $43.6 Billion by the Pentagon's Count as Congress Stalls on Funding and Interceptor Stocks Run Low

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon’s latest estimate puts the cost of the war with Iran at $43.6 billion as of September 3. Of that, $11.2 billion has been spent on operations and $32.4 billion is the cost of replacing munitions and equipment, which hasn’t been funded. The figure leaves out repairs to bases in eight countries.

Every estimate so far has been overtaken by the next. The Defense Department’s inspector general counted $33.4 billion through June. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress in July the war would cost $37.5 billion through September. CBO, in a letter on September 15, put the cost through August 1 at about $38 billion, with $2 billion to $3 billion more each month.

No New US Aid for Ukraine Since 2024: Weapons Now Flow Through NATO-Funded PURL Sales

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Congress hasn’t approved significant new money for Ukraine since April 2024, the Congressional Research Service noted in its update of August 31, 2026. The US has committed more than $68 billion in weapons and equipment since February 2022. About $4.96 billion in authority to send weapons from US stocks remained unused at the end of June.

US weapons still reach Ukraine. Since July 2025 they’ve mostly come through PURL, the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, under which European and other allies pay for US equipment. On October 8 the chair of NATO’s Military Committee said Ukraine had received $10 billion worth of US weapons that way.

Golden Dome: CBO Puts the Cost at $1.2 Trillion Over 20 Years While 97% of Next Year's Money Waits on Reconciliation

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On September 29, 2026, Gen. Michael Guetlein told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee that an initial version of Golden Dome, the planned national missile defense system, could be ready by 2028, built from existing radars and interceptors. Six weeks earlier he had put it more bluntly to an audience in Huntsville: if the funding doesn’t come, there’s no Golden Dome.

Golden Dome is the defense program where the gap between ambition and money is widest. The President announced it in May 2025 at $175 billion, to be fully operational within about three years. Congress gave it $24.4 billion through the July 2025 reconciliation law. The rest depends on bills that haven’t passed.

US Arms Sales in 2026: Saudi F-35s Approved, Taiwan's $14 Billion Air Defense Package Frozen After the Xi Summit

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On September 17 the State Department notified Congress of a proposed sale of 48 F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, worth $24.3 billion. It would make Saudi Arabia the second country in the Middle East, after Israel, to fly the jet. The same month brought a $5 billion sale of more than 10,000 bombs and $750 million in tank engines to Riyadh.

Meanwhile a record $14 billion package for Taiwan, mostly Patriot interceptors and an integrated air defense command system, has been on hold since the President’s summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing in May. Taiwan’s defense minister said on September 29 that it was still pending.

US Threatens to Pull Buy American Waivers as Europe Writes 'Buy European' Into Defense Spending

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On September 15, 2026, the United States sent EU lawmakers a paper warning that it “will review all potential response measures” if the EU writes a European preference into its next long-term budget. One of the measures on the table: rolling back the Buy American waivers that let European defense companies compete for Pentagon contracts.

Nineteen of the EU’s 27 member states have Reciprocal Defense Procurement agreements with the US. Under them, American buyers waive Buy American rules for those countries’ firms, and the countries do the same for US firms. Washington is now signaling that the deal works only if Europe keeps buying American too.

CBO Prices the Navy's Battleship Program at $275 Billion for 15 Ships, With the Lead Ship at $23 Billion

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CBO estimates the Navy’s planned nuclear-powered battleships would cost about $275 billion in 2026 dollars for 15 ships bought between 2028 and 2056. Its report, published on August 5, puts the lead ship at $23.4 billion and the rest at about $18 billion each.

The Navy’s own budget put the lead ship at $15.1 billion. That figure was for a conventionally powered ship, and the Navy has since chosen nuclear propulsion. The gap between the two numbers is the first thing Congress will have to settle before it pays for the ship.

Coast Guard Orders 11 Arctic Security Cutters for $6.8 Billion While GAO Puts the First Polar Security Cutter at 2033

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The US Coast Guard has now signed fixed-price contracts for 11 medium icebreakers, the Arctic Security Cutters, worth about $6.8 billion together. The first is due in 2028. Its heavy icebreaker, the Polar Security Cutter, was ordered in 2019 and GAO now expects the first one in 2033.

The two programs run side by side at the same Gulf Coast shipbuilder, Bollinger. One was designed and built from scratch in the US and has slipped nine years. The other uses a Finnish-Canadian design, with four of the first six hulls built in Finland, and is meant to skip the learning curve.

Hegseth's Acquisition Overhaul Meets GAO's Numbers: 12-Year Weapons Timelines, a Canceled Frigate and a Late Columbia Submarine

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

GAO’s annual assessment of major weapons programs, published on July 2, 2026, covered 104 programs with planned spending of more than $2.4 trillion. It found the average time to field a new capability is now over 12 years, and rising. Of 40 programs started on the Pentagon’s fast “middle tier” path since 2018, 18 began with immature technology.

That’s the baseline against which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s acquisition overhaul, launched in November 2025, will be judged.

US Spends 3.17% of GDP on Defense While Five NATO Allies Pass 3.5% in the Alliance's 2026 Estimates

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The United States will spend about 3.17% of its GDP on core defense in 2026, according to NATO’s estimates, and still accounts for about 60% of all spending in the alliance. A year after allies agreed at The Hague to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, five of them already spend more than 3.5% on core defense, a bigger share of their economies than the US. Most of the big Western European economies are somewhere between 2% and 2.7%.

National Guard in US Cities After Trump v. Illinois: Troops Leave Chicago, LA and Portland but Stay in DC Until 2029

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On December 23, 2025, the Supreme Court refused, by 6 to 3, to let the administration deploy federalized National Guard troops in Illinois. The Court read the law the President relied on, 10 U.S.C. 12406, narrowly. It allows the Guard to be federalized when the President can’t execute the laws with the “regular forces.” The Court said that means the active-duty military, so the Guard can be sent in only where active-duty troops would be insufficient and could lawfully do the job themselves.

Reconciliation 3.0 Stalls in the Senate: The House's $95 Billion Iran War, Farm Aid and Voter ID Package Has No Offsets

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On July 22 the House adopted a fiscal 2027 budget resolution by 216 votes to 214. It sets up a third party-line reconciliation bill this Congress, worth about $95 billion: $73 billion for the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, mostly for the war with Iran, $12 billion in farm aid and $10 billion for grants to states for voter ID and citizenship checks. It has no offsets.

Two weeks later the Senate version was pulled before a vote, because Republican leaders didn’t have 50 votes.

NATO's Ankara Summit Kept the Text Short for Washington: €70 Billion for Ukraine and a $40 Billion Counter-Drone Push

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Ankara Summit Declaration, adopted on July 8, 2026, runs to six numbered paragraphs. A year earlier at The Hague, allies had agreed the 5% of GDP target in a declaration of five. Short declarations are now a NATO habit, and they say a lot about how the alliance works with the current US administration: keep the text tight, avoid fights on paper, and announce the real work separately.

The summit was held on July 7 and 8 at the Beştepe Presidential Complex, the second NATO summit Türkiye has hosted after Istanbul in 2004.