SASC defense policy bill adds billions for Arleigh Burke destroyer, Sentinel ICBM programs

WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee laid out the details of its $914 billion draft defense policy bill today, shedding light on the beneficiaries of a $32 billion increase to the defense topline that include the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile programs.

SASC’s version of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act includes $878.7 billion for the Defense Department and $35.2 billion for defense programs within the Department of Energy.

The committee previewed major policy shifts, such as sweeping defense acquisition changes, after passing the bill through committee last week. Congressional officials also said then that major plus ups in the bill included about $8.5 billion for shipbuilding and $6 billion for munitions.

However, officials previously declined to detail funding changes to specific programs, with those details only becoming available today after the bill was formally filed in the Senate.

Here are the biggest muscle movements in the bill:

US Military Footprint In South Korea

The draft bill takes direct aim at efforts to reduce the American military footprint abroad, as Breaking Defense previously reported regarding Europe. The newly published bill additionally prohibits the administration from drawing down forces in South Korea, or ceasing wartime operational control over the Combined Forces Command — a joint US-South Korean enterprise — until the Secretary of Defense certifies to Congress that such action is in the best national interest.

The proposed legislation also directs the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of Indo-Pacific Command and US Forces Korea to conduct an independent risk assessment of any such changes.

Senate authorizers added those provisions to the draft bill following reports that the Trump administration was considering withdrawing its troops from South Korea to send to other locations inside the Indo-Pacific region.

Billions For A Destroyer Program, Virginia-Class Subs

With a large portion of the Navy’s shipbuilding request already passed through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Senate authorizers largely funded the rest of the service’s shipbuilding account as sought by the administration.

Lawmakers added roughly $5.4 billion to the DDG-51 program, noting the funds are for “wage and quality of life enhancements for conventional surface shipbuilding, private ship repair and public shipyards.” While not explicitly spelled out in the text, those priorities match the ones outlined in the Shipyard Accountability and Workforce Support legislation, championed by both the Navy’s industrial base and SASC Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

Senate lawmakers also added $1.2 billion for an additional Virginia-class submarine, boosting the $816 million request to a $2.0 billion authorization.

In the realm of aircraft, the committee authorized a funding boost for the Marine Corps’ CH-53K program by $552 million, which would add four helicopters. It removed $1.5 billion requested for the E-2D Hawkeye program, or almost the entirety of the requested funding, in what the committee termed a “program cancellation.”

The bill also authorizes an additional $400 million for industrial facilities associated with Navy munitions, an additional $694 million for increased procurement of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, and an additional $193 million for Tomahawk Land Attack Missile “supplier base stabilization.” Senate lawmakers also added $158 million for increased procurement of Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles.

Watching Out For Sentinel

Regarding the Air Force, a key focus of authorizers is the service’s troubled LGM-35A Sentinel program, which is planned to become the land leg of America’s nuclear triad by replacing the aging Minuteman III. While officials have said the date for fielding the new missile is in flux due to an ongoing review triggered last year by a cost breach, authorizers would mandate the Pentagon achieve initial operational capability for the system by Sept. 30, 2033. Authorizers would further add $2 billion to the Sentinel program for “restoration of full funding” for the effort’s development phase, according to funding tables included in the bill text.

In all, authorizers would boost the Air Force’s aircraft procurement by about $1.6 billion, alongside a $4.9 billion plus-up for R&D efforts. On the procurement side, a chief beneficiary would be the F-35A, where $989.5 million would buy 10 more copies of the fighter. The E-7 Wedgetail stands out as a winner for more R&D money, as authorizers would reject a Pentagon effort to cancel the program by adding an additional $700 million to the Trump administration’s request.

Authorizers also included smaller, but still notable provisions. For example, the bill would authorize the Air Force to conduct a pilot program to resupply ICBM launch facilities or control centers with drones. And, the Air Force Secretary would be required to “reverse any changes made to the manpower, composition, roles or responsibilities” to Air Force Global Strike Command that were related to the stand up of the service’s nascent Integrated Capabilities Command.

And on munitions, the bill would lift procurement of the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile by adding $322 million, roughly doubling the administration’s request for a total of $650 million. Authorizers would additionally increase procurement of the Small Diameter Bomb by adding $150 million for buying a ground-launched version of the weapon. 

Money For The Mysterious MILNET

For America’s space enterprise, the bill would revive funding for the Space Development Agency’s next iteration of data relay satellites in low Earth orbit, called Transport Layer Tranche 3, adding $277 million. The Pentagon’s FY26 request controversially zeroed out funding for the new SDA satellites as sources have told Breaking Defense that Department of the Air Force and the Space Force are contemplating replacing the agency’s nascent Transport Layer constellation with SpaceX’s Starshield birds, under an effort dubbed MILNET. MILNET, currently a satellite communications effort, would be implemented in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office. The SASC bill also acceded to the Space Force’s first-time request of $277 million for the MILNET program.

NRO, according to widespread reports and multiple sources, already has a contract with SpaceX to provide Starshield busses its “proliferated LEO” intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance constellation.

Cybersecurity And CJADC2

The committee’s legislation would expand the scope of “affirmation of authority” for cyber operations to include defense of critical infrastructure. The bill’s executive summary defines this as drumming up a plan to “reestablish a credible deterrence against cyberattacks targeting American critical infrastructure using the full spectrum of military operations.”

The bill defines critical infrastructure as “any asset of the Department of Defense of such extraordinary importance to the functioning of the Department and the operation of the armed forces that the incapacitation or destruction of such asset by a cyber attack would have a debilitating effect on the ability of the Department to fulfill its missions.’’ Lawmakers and defense officials alike have expressed heightened concern over critical infrastructure in light of Chinese threat groups Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon which have conducted attacks on telecommunications networks and  critical infrastructure respectively.

Lawmakers are demanding a better idea of what the Pentagon has in mind for its Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) initiative —  the DoD’s vision to create an all-seeing, all-connected battle network across the joint force and key international allies. The bill mandates that not more than 90 percent of the funds for research, development, test and evaluation for CJADC2 be “obligated or expended” until the Defense Secretary provides the congressional defense committees a “framework” for the initiative that “helps guide investments and measures progress for the initiative.”