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Pentagon’s Record Breaking $1.5 Trillion Budget Request Includes Boosts for F-35, F-15EX, and More

FlyMarshall NewsroomBy No Comments8 Mins Read

The largest defence budget request in U.S. history, coming in at almost $500 billion more than 2026, would see accelerated procurement of key platforms and increased funding for headline projects like Golden Dome.

The Department of Defense’s budget request for the 2027 financial year was unveiled during a press conference at the Pentagon on Apr. 21, 2026, led by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Accusing previous administrations of underfunding America’s armed forces – which are already funded by a budget that accounts for well over a third of all military expenditure worldwide – Hegseth said “Previous administrations underinvested in our military while our enemies grew stronger and more dangerous, so we are now changing the game. This budget builds this arsenal without compromising readiness that will ensure we remain the world’s premier fighting force, we protect the homeland, and we create peace through strength now and into the future.”

In the official Pentagon press release, the Department claims that around 52% of the FY2027 budget request is dedicated to the procurement of new equipment and munitions. The total expenditure requested represents a 42% increase over the FY2026 budget. 

Below we will take a look at some of the aviation related parts of the proposal. 

Air Power

$102.2 billion of the request is focused towards air power, with investments in fourth generation, fifth generation, and sixth generation fighter aircraft, as well as a wide range of support platforms. 

The largest boost compared to 2026 is for the F-35 Lightning II, with last year’s request for 47 airframes almost doubling to 85. This represents $21.4 billion of investment, and includes all three variants of the aircraft. The F-35’s extensive use and apparent strong performance in Operation Epic Fury, Operation Southern Spear, and Operation Absolute Resolve, have likely reinforced desires to accelerate procurement and supplant legacy aircraft types like the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. 

An F-35C Lightning II on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on Mar. 3, 2026, with an array of air to surface weaponry in the foreground. Weapons include JDAMs, AGM-84K SLAM-ER, and AGM-114 Hellfire guided missiles. (Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo)

For the U.S. Air Force, the budget includes 38 F-35As. 37 new F-35Cs are planned for carrier operation by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, and 10 F-35Bs for the USMC’s ‘gator navy’. 

Acting Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Jules W. Hurst III said spares for the F-35 fleet had been underfunded in previous budgets, and claims the FY2027 budget request will begin to rectify this. 

Selfridge F-15EX
An F-15EX Eagle II from the 40th Flight Test Squadron, 96th Test Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies in formation during an aerial refueling operation above the skies of Northern California. (Image Credit: Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)

A small increase in the per-year procurement of the F-15EX Eagle II is intended to further relieve pressure on legacy aircraft types, while also taking advantage of some unique capabilities that the aircraft brings to the table. Though the F-15EX lacks the stealth capabilities of the F-35, the jet’s large external payload has been useful for allowing the carriage of physically larger munitions as well as an increased number of munitions per sortie.

Outside of the budget request itself, it has been confirmed that the U.S. Air Force plans to massively increase its overall buy of the Eagle II. A total of 267 F-15EX aircraft are now planned for procurement, which could see the Eagle II begin to replace the F-15E Strike Eagle as well as the older air superiority focused F-15C/D Eagle fleet. Such an expansion was previously hinted at in a report released last year. 

A reduction in spending on the B-21 Raider reflects the program’s current status, with flight testing continuing as planned alongside limited rate production. While the B-21 continues its journey towards operational service with a sufficient level of deliveries, funding continues to be allocated to upgrades for the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers it is scheduled to replace. Though not slated for replacement by the B-21, funding is also planned to enable upgrades for the B-52 Stratofortress including the much anticipated replacement of its Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofan engines with eight Rolls-Royce F130s.

The Department considers the B-21 a ‘top priority’, being both a key capability as part of the U.S. Air Force’s conventional air power force as well as a significant part of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) nuclear triad. 

B-21 refueling
A B-21 Raider conducts aerial refueling with a KC-135 Stratotanker. (Image Credit: U.S. Air Force)

After many reports regarding high pressures on the U.S. military’s stockpiles of advanced anti-surface weapons during the Iran conflict, the budget proposes the procurement of 821 AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) and 333 AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM). 1,134 Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) and 785 BGM-109 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles (TLAM) are also proposed for acqusition. 

An initial buy of 1,000 units from the planned Family of Affordable Mass Missiles (FAMM) program are also proposed. 

Missile & Air Defence

Golden Dome, described in the budget request literature as America’s premier initiative to deter and defeat advanced missile threats, is proposed to receive $17.9 billion in funding for FY2027. No contract awardees have yet been announced publicly for this program, though sources previously told Reuters that Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Anduril are among the companies given a number of small, initial contracts. 

Proposed funding for the U.S. Space Force’s Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking program, including platforms on the ground, in low Earth orbit (LEO), and medium Earth orbit (MEO), has been more than doubled. These platforms will work alongside the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (NG-OPIR) satellite constellation – a replacement for the Space-based Infrared System (SBIRS) – to provide global detection and tracking of missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles. The first NG-OPIR satellite is due for launch imminently. 

Perhaps a reflection of the high numbers of air defence munitions expended during Operation Epic Fury, the budget request includes the propose procurement of over 2,000 anti-air missiles. This includes 504 missiles from the Standard Missile (SM) family, 494 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, 405 PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defence batteries, 306 AIM-9X Sidewinders, 290 RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), 116 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles, and 62 interceptors for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. 

Drone Warfare

Two unmanned platforms are listed in the budget proposal’s Major Air Power Programs section. One is the MQ-25 Stingray, which is being developed for deployment as an aerial refueling aircraft on board the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers. Proposals for equipping the aircraft with weapons have also surfaced in recent years. Three MQ-25s are slated for procurement in FY2027, with the most recent planned date for initial operating capability (IOC) to be achieved coming towards the end of the same financial year. 

Bouncing back into the budget after some gaps in procurement, the Pentagon proposes the procurement of five new MQ-9 Reaper aircraft. Previous requests have focused on sustainment and upgrade pathways for the Reaper, rather than fleet expansion, but fairly significant losses to the fleet during recent conflicts may be leaving the U.S. military short of one of its most widely used intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and precision strike platforms. 

The Pentagon also plans to continue investing in one-way attack drone platforms, like the Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), as well small drones for ISR purposes. Counter-drone technologies are also proposed to be funded to the tune of $20.6 billion as the U.S. continues to develop new ways to fight this emerging threat. 


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