House Armed Services Committee Approves NDAA Proposal

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) early July 16 resoundingly passed its fiscal 2026 defense policy bill, looking to block some key moves in the Pentagon’s proposal and raising the fleet size of U.S. Air Force mobility aircraft.

The 55-2 vote came after several hours of debate on scores of amendments but resulted in highly bipartisan support.

“Equipping an innovative and agile military requires an efficient and streamlined acquisition process. The FY26 (National Defense Authorization Act) supports modernization and fundamentally reforms defense acquisition by cutting red tape, eliminating bureaucratic hurdles and encouraging innovation. It refocuses acquisition on its most important mission: getting our warfighters what they need when they need it,” HASC Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said in a statement.

Among measures in the bill that were supported was a step to block the U.S. Air Force from using any funding to shoot down the rapid prototyping contract for the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail and terminating operations of the E-7A production line. The Pentagon is looking to cancel the overall plan for fielding 26 of the 737-based airborne early warning and control aircraft. While the bill stops short of forcing the service to continue the total program of record, it buys the Air Force time and keeps work going on two prototypes that are under construction.

The measure also increases the Air Force’s tanker fleet size to 504 by 2027, up from 466. This would force the Air Force to keep its KC-135 fleet while it is bringing on new KC-46s, and a separate line in the measure requires the service to keep the KC-10s in storage that could return them quickly to flyable condition.

Lawmakers are also looking to apply pressure to the U.S. Navy to keep its F/A-XX program going despite a Pentagon push to apply the brakes. The measure calls on Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, the main force behind slowing the effort, to provide a report to lawmakers on the progress.

The measure also takes a critical look at the Army’s proposed Transformation Initiative—a push that includes steps to cancel the Improved Turbine Engine Program, cut AH-64D Apaches and slash the MQ-1C, among others. Lawmakers in the markup hearing said the service has not provided any analysis backing up its plans.

While the Senate Armed Services Committee’s (SASC) markup, approved last week, adds $30 billion to the Pentagon’s top line, the HASC markup maintains the proposed $849.8 billion in discretionary top-line funding, not including funding approved in the reconciliation package.