A massive $150 billion reconciliation bill pitched by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has moved to the House Budget Committee after a 35-21 vote, paving the way for the $1.012 trillion topline defense budget. This is the first time the HASC’s reconciliation process has been used to directly add funding to the U.S. Department of Defense; part of President Donald Trump’s FY2026 Discretionary Budget Request released this week.
A major part of the $150 billion bill includes $1.8 billion for the production of medium unmanned surface vessels, a major U.S. Navy interest in the past year as it seeks information on unmanned vessels of commercial origin.
The Department of Defense has pushed forward on a number of unmanned programs for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, adding autonomous launchers, one-way attack drones, and logistics vessels to both branches in recent years.
The bill also allocates $1.55 billion to the production of unmanned undersea vehicles like Boeing’s Orca XLUUV and Anduril’s Dive-XL and Copperhead UUVs.
“This legislation represents a generational upgrade for our nation’s defense capabilities, including historic investments in new technology. This is about building the future of American defense, achieving peace through strength, and ultimately deterring war.”
HASC Chairman Roger Wicker, R-MS-1
The effort to develop and deliver unmanned systems has hastened since the Department of Defense and Defense Innovation Unit launched Replicator 1 in 2023, a force-wide initiative to deliver several thousand unmanned systems to all branches of the armed forces by August 2025. The second phase, Replicator 2, is addressing the need for counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS). Dozens of programs are active and delivering articles across all branches in support of both initiatives.
Shipbuilding for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps was the largest recipient of proposed funds in the HASC bill overall, garnering nearly 25% of the $150 billion for more Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Virginia-class submarines, America-class amphibious assault ships, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks, among others.
