The Pentagon will now look to spend over $150 billion in reconciliation funds this fiscal year, submitting a plan to Congress outlining efforts to advance the Golden Dome missile defense project and other nuclear activities.
The plan represents a large increase from the $113 billion in reconciliation funds the Donald Trump administration had originally projected to spend in fiscal 2026, and means the Pentagon will now allocate essentially all of the defense funds Congress had approved by Congress to be apportioned over several years.
“While the mandatory funds are available for obligation until September 30, 2029, and in some cases the detailed allocation plans provided below reference contact awards dates in future years, the [Pentagon] is working to accelerate execution into FY 2026 if that can be done without sacrificing effectiveness,” the department writes, according a copy of the blueprint obtained by Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily.
The $150.5 billion outlined in the new blueprint for fiscal 2026, after having spent $1.8 billion in fiscal 2025, includes $29.2 billion for shipbuilding, $24.4 billion for integrated air and missile defense, $24.8 billion for munitions and defense supply chain resiliency, $16.2 billion for readiness, $15.4 billion to scale low-cost weapons into production, $12.3 billion for Indo-Pacific Command capabilities, $10.8 billion for nuclear forces, $8.6 billion for air superiority and $1 billion for border security.
In fiscal 2026, the Pentagon plans to outlay reconciliation funds to procure 14 ships, including $4.6 billion for an additional Virginia-class submarine.
The plan said shipbuilding funds will also include nearly $1 billion to “target the significant expansion of industrial base capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing” and support the White House’s earlier executive order to “to revitalize and rebuild domestic maritime industries and workforce to promote national security and economic prosperity.”
The plan also includes $2.5 billion for risk reduction for the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic program, $4.5 billion to accelerate the B-21 long-range bomber aircraft program, $2 billion to accelerate the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile program and $3.5 billion related to an Indo-Pacific Command effort for “development, procurement and integration of United States military satellites and the protection of United States military satellites.”
President Donald Trump has said he wants a $1.5 trillion defense topline for fiscal 2027, while the path to reach that spending increase is uncertain after he cast doubt on the prospects of pushing for a second reconciliation bill.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) passed last July allocated $152.3 billion for defense to be spent over four years, with the Trump administration having originally apportioned $113 billion for fiscal 2026 to achieve a $1 trillion defense topline when combined with the base defense budget request.
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees were responsible for crafting the defense portions of the reconciliation bill, to include outlining $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system and $33.7 billion for shipbuilding, while the final allocation of those funds is ultimately determined by the Trump administration and Pentagon.
The unclassified plan provides the greatest level of detail to date on the Pentagon’s specific spending objectives, and follows a call from Senate Budget Committee Democrats for more information after raising concerns the lack of transparency “risks further turning reconciliation funding into a slush fund.”
For missile defense spending, the Pentagon says the funds “will develop and restore critical missile defense infrastructure while also assessing and deploying system level capabilities in support of Golden Dome and the Services’ priorities.”
The Pentagon specifically plans to allocate $800 million for accelerated development and deployment of next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile defense systems and $2 billion for improved ground-based missile defense radars.
The blueprint, however, does not provide specifics on the majority of those funding projects stating that details can only be disclosed at a higher classification level.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published a version of this story.