Requirement
The military defines the need, threat, or gap that the budget is meant to solve.
Reference
Major U.S. defense procurement programs in FY2026.
Largest annual procurement and RDT&E lines in the Department of Defense FY2026 budget request, with service branch, program status, and prime contractor. Figures in USD billions.
FY2026 program table
| Program | Service | FY26 request | Lifecycle / program | Status | Prime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F-35 Joint Strike Fighter | USAF / USN / USMC | $16.5B | 2,456 aircraft, ~$2.0T lifecycle | Production & sustainment | Lockheed Martin |
| Columbia-class SSBN | U.S. Navy | $9.4B | 12 boats, ~$132B acquisition | Lead ship under construction | General Dynamics Electric Boat / HII |
| Virginia-class SSN (Block V/VI) | U.S. Navy | $7.1B | ~$5.1B per boat incl. VPM | Serial production | General Dynamics Electric Boat / HII |
| Sentinel ICBM (LGM-35A) | U.S. Air Force | $4.1B | Nunn-McCurdy breach; ~$140B acquisition | Restructured 2024, IOC slipped | Northrop Grumman |
| B-21 Raider | U.S. Air Force | $3.2B | At least 100 aircraft planned | Flight testing, LRIP | Northrop Grumman |
| Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) / F-47 | U.S. Air Force | $3.5B | Estimated $20B+ development | Contract awarded Mar 2025 | Boeing (F-47) |
| Golden Dome missile shield | Joint / MDA | $25.0B | Executive order Jan 2025; multi-year | Program formation | Multiple |
| Constellation-class FFG | U.S. Navy | $1.3B | 20 frigates planned | Delayed; redesign issues | Fincantieri Marinette Marine |
| CH-53K King Stallion | U.S. Marine Corps | $1.8B | 200 aircraft | Full-rate production | Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin) |
| KC-46A Pegasus tanker | U.S. Air Force | $2.9B | 179 aircraft | Production; remote vision fix | Boeing |
| T-7A Red Hawk trainer | U.S. Air Force | $0.6B | 351 aircraft | Development; IOC delayed | Boeing |
| Abrams M1A2 SEPv3/v4 tanks | U.S. Army | $2.1B | Upgrade & new build | M1E3 next-gen in development | General Dynamics Land Systems |
| AMPV (Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle) | U.S. Army | $0.7B | Replaces M113 | Full-rate production | BAE Systems |
| Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors | U.S. Army | $1.9B | Surge production ongoing | Ukraine/INDOPACOM demand | Lockheed Martin |
| SM-6 / SM-3 Block IIA | U.S. Navy / MDA | $1.7B | Sea-based air & missile defense | Production | RTX (Raytheon) |
| LRASM / JASSM-ER | USAF / USN | $1.2B | Long-range strike munitions | Production ramp | Lockheed Martin |
| Precision munitions (GMLRS, PrSM, Javelin, Stinger) | U.S. Army / Joint | $4.3B | Multi-year contracts 2024–2028 | Surge production | Lockheed Martin / RTX |
Sources: DoD FY2026 Budget Justification Books (P-1 Procurement & R-1 RDT&E), GAO program cost assessments, and Congressional Research Service reports. See related analysis in FY2026 defense budget crosses trillion and what the Pentagon actually buys in FY2026.
Lifecycle stages
Contracting
The state selects vendors, platforms, services, or blended packages under a procurement mechanism.
Production
Factories, subcontractors, and logistics networks turn the contract into actual capability.
Fielding and sustainment
Delivery, training, maintenance, munitions replenishment, and long-term support keep the system usable.
What to look for
Procurement pages should separate unit cost from lifecycle cost, new production from replenishment, and visible spending from the deferred bill that appears later in sustainment and modernization accounts.
Source rule
If the page relies on a public contract, budget, or earnings disclosure, it should say what the source can and cannot establish. For the publication-wide sourcing standard, see Methodology.