WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01), vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, released a statement following the final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026:
“This NDAA is a bipartisan, bicameral commitment to pursuing peace through strength. This legislation delivers critical investments to strengthen our warfighters, improve the quality of life of our servicemembers and their families, and modernize our defense industrial base – ensuring that our military remains the preeminent fighting force in the world.
“As threats from our adversaries, such as China and Russia, continue to grow, this legislation prioritizes innovation and reforms the defense acquisition process. By cutting through the red tape that has kept many businesses out of the defense sector, we are expanding the field of contributors and ensuring our military has the technology they need to fight the wars of tomorrow and remain competitive against our adversaries.
“This legislation makes critical investments in counter-drone systems, authorizes critical funds for the development, procurement, and modification of our aircraft, and strengthens the nation’s shipbuilding efforts.
“I’m proud to support this year’s NDAA, which delivers for the men and women who bravely serve our nation, and I look forward to this legislation being signed into law by the President.”
The bill includes many of Rep. Wittman’s top priorities, including:
Reforming the Pentagon’s Acquisition Process
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Creates a new process that accelerates how the Pentagon develops requirements, getting innovative solutions to the warfighter at speed and scale
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Leverages the speed and cost savings of industry by prioritizing commercial-off-the-shelf products and services
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Exempts smaller programs from excessive and burdensome acquisition regulations
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Ensures long-term sustainment decisions are made early in the process to prevent costly readiness issues and maintenance shortfalls
Supporting Service Members and Military Families
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Supports a 3.8% pay raise for all servicemembers
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Assuring Navigation of Compact Help For Ongoing Relocation (ANCHOR) Act: ensures military families are informed of their educational rights, school enrollment support, housing assistance, and spouse employment support during Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves
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Authorizes over $2 billion for new dining facilities, barracks, family housing, and childcare centers
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Prevents the Department from reducing the number of military healthcare provisions to prevent staffing shortages at military medical facilities
Strengthening U.S. Navy Shipbuilding
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Authorizes funding for the third Columbia-class Ballistic Missile Submarine and one Virginia-class Submarine
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Fully funds the Ford-class Aircraft Carrier program and provides authority to purchase the next two ships in the class
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Authorizes advanced procurement funding for Columbia- and Virginia-class Submarines, Ford-class Aircraft Carriers, and Guided-Missile Destroyers
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Authorizes the Navy to contract the first 15 Medium Landing Ships
Maintaining U.S Air Supremacy
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Authorizes funding to purchase 47 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
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Establishes the Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) 401, which will lead, advocate, and coordinate all counter-drone activities at the Department
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Creates a pilot program to integrate civilian sensor networks with Air Force counter-drone capabilities to defend U.S. bases, created in response to drone incursions at Joint Base Langley-Eustis
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Provides the Pentagon with multiyear procurement authority for critical munitions, including Army air defense interceptors, long-range air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and ship-launched air defense and strike missiles
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Prohibits the retirement of certain F-15E and A-10 aircraft
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Prohibits the closure of the E-7A Wedgetail production line
Defense Modernization
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Accelerates access to Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF) for small and non-traditional defense firms
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Requires major defense programs to leverage a Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) to enable rapid system and software updates
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Streamlines the Authorization to Operate (ATO) process, allowing for rapid, iterative software updates to critical systems
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Creates the Bridging Operational Objectives and Support for Transition (BOOST) program at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to accelerate the adoption and integration of promising commercial technologies
Boosting Military Readiness
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Establishes a pilot program to co-locate small modular reactors (SMR) on military bases.
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Requires the Department to maintain sufficient spare and repair parts and support equipment to sustain our fleet of F-35 aircraft
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Requires the Navy to prioritize maintenance and repair of amphibious warships while increasing transparency of maintenance periods
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Supports additional funding for TRISO nuclear fuel development to support micronuclear reactor production
Supporting Partners and Allies
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Requires the Pentagon to improve processes and procedures for foreign military sales (FMS) and strengthens the FMS workforce
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Fully funds the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative
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Provides $400 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative
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Continues U.S.-Israeli defense cooperation in air defense, emerging technologies, and industrial base production
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Formerly establishes the Baltic Security Initiative to strengthen the capabilities of our Baltic allies
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Establishes the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Armaments Cooperation to oversee joint production and arms development initiatives with partners and allies
Stewardship of Taxpayer Funding
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Saves $20 billion by cutting duplicative or unnecessary programs
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Improves Congressional oversight of audit results and encourages the Department to leverage new technologies to ensure the Services facilitate and pass clean audits
