4. Department of Defense · Notable · Needs Congress
Accelerate the six Army modernization priorities
Printed page 108 4. Department of Defense
“Accelerate the development and procurement of the six current Army modernization priorities (long-range precision fires, the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift, the Army network, air and missile defense, and soldier lethality) to replace worn out and outdated combat systems and ensure ground combat dominance.”
What has happened
- Partially done
The FY2026 appropriation confirms the split: Missile Procurement, Army rises to $7.29 billion from $4.62 billion enacted for FY2024, while Procurement of Weapons and Tracked Combat Vehicles, Army falls to $3.01 billion from $4.24 billion and Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Army falls to $16.71 billion from $17.12 billion. Acceleration for some of the six priorities, contraction for others.
- Partially done
Public Law 119-21 sec. 20003 and sec. 20004 fund the Army's fires and air-and-missile-defense priorities directly: production and accelerated development of next-generation medium-range and long-range Army ballistic missiles, an anti-ship seeker for short-range Army ballistic missiles, a long-range movable missile defense radar, accelerated fielding of a short-range gun-based air and missile defense system, additional launchers and acceleration for Army medium-range interceptors, next-generation shoulder-fired air defense, and precision extended-range artillery.
- Partially done
The Army Transformation Initiative reoriented modernization toward homeland defense and deterring China — terminating what the Army called outdated programs and putting the money into long-range missiles, missile defense, cyber, electronic warfare and counter-space. Two of the six priorities accelerated; the ground-vehicle and vertical-lift priorities were reshaped rather than accelerated. (See #192, where the same initiative cut Army formations.)
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
The six priorities did not survive the window intact. Long-range precision fires and air and missile defense were accelerated with new money; the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle and Future Vertical Lift portfolios were cut back under the Army Transformation Initiative, and combat-vehicle procurement fell in the FY2026 bill.
This item sits in the page 108–110 Army cluster (#189, #190, #191, #193, #194, #195, #196), whose shared instruments are Public Law 119-21 title XX, the FY2026 NDAA and the FY2026 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (Public Law 119-75, division A) — the first full-year defense appropriation of the window. One negative search covered the whole cluster.
- Action
- expand
- Object
- six Army modernization priorities
- ID
- 190