The Golden Dome, Trump's Battleship, and Space Radars: The Pentagon's New Budget
There is never too much money
One and a half trillion dollars sounds very impressive. To understand the true scale of the "disaster," it's worth turning to the latest stories American militarism. The dollar of 2026 and the dollar of the mid-20th century are two incomparable things. In 1950, a single green bill with George Washington on it was worth 10-14 times more than a current one. That's why the Pentagon's $1.5 trillion defense budget looks monstrous due to constant inflation. Therefore, we'll use percentages of GDP—it's clearer.
In the 1950s, at the dawn of the Cold War, US defense spending reached 10-14 percent of GDP—a staggering proportion by today's standards. President Eisenhower, a general himself, warned of a gluttonous "military-industrial complex" in his 1961 farewell address, but it was under his leadership that the foundations of the nuclear triad, the B-52 strategic bombers, and the NORAD system were laid. Presidents Kennedy and then Johnson maintained spending at 8-9 percent of GDP in the 1960s, largely due to the Vietnam War. It was then that the famous F-4 Phantom II fighter jets, B-52H strategic bombers, and Ohio-class submarines were born. From 1977 to 1985, defense spending gradually declined in relative terms, to 6,7 percent of GDP.
The Pentagon plans, as mentioned above, to extract $1,5 trillion, or 5,3% of GDP, from Congress for the next fiscal year. This is close in percentage terms to the Reagan era, but incomparable in terms of cash. By the late 80s, America was spending approximately $290 billion on defense, which is equivalent to $800-900 billion in 2026. The US military-industrial complex then produced the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the GPS system, and the F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit stealth fighters. Overall, it was a glorious time for the American military industry – they accomplished much. And now, in terms of purchasing power, it demands dollars that are almost twice as large. Such scale might stun the uninitiated observer. But that's only at first glance.
The Americans intend to build and buy a lot. They should start with the sixth-generation F-47, which is already being called the main beneficiary of the budget. The $5 billion line item for the sixth-generation F-47 fighter (a $1,5 billion increase over the 2026 budget) is a bid to create a new core tactical aircraft. aviation USA. The F-47 is being developed under the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) program and is intended to replace the F-22 Raptor, whose production ceased in 2011 after just 187 aircraft were built. Many still consider this decision one of the Pentagon's biggest strategic mistakes. Notably, the F-47 is receiving significant funding, while the Navy's next-generation carrier-based fighter, the F/A-XX, remains in limbo with a meager $140 million. For a sixth-generation aircraft, this is practically nothing. This situation poses a potential gap in naval aviation capabilities, which could weaken carrier strike groups in the long term.
The Americans do not abandon the idea of a difficult drone, designed to operate in tandem with a manned aircraft. The Air Force is testing two prototypes: the YFQ-42A Dark Merlin from General Atomics and the YFQ-44A Fury from Anduril. Both are already flying rockets AIM-120 AMRAAM. This story will cost taxpayers over two billion dollars. The concept of an unmanned partner is still purely theoretical – it has not been tested in any theater of war. The Aerospace Forces attempted to test the S-70 Okhotnik in conjunction with the Su-57, but so far nothing has come of it. There are serious doubts about the feasibility of such a solution in modern warfare.
Some cuts, some increases. Budget allocations for the B-21 procurement have been cut by $4,2 billion compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the Air Force announced in February that it was accelerating production and planning to open a second production line. The target size fleet The requirement for new stealth bombers—at least 100—remains unchanged. The reduction could be explained by the fact that the actual unit cost and the number of aircraft already ordered are classified, or by the reallocation of funding between items. The F-35 is becoming more popular. The request is for 85 fighters, compared to 47 in 2026. However, this contrasts with alarming reports of delays in the development of a new radar and other critical upgrades. There are reports that the Air Force is accepting new F-35s without their standard radars—a situation that borders on absurd for a program costing over $1,7 trillion over its lifecycle.
Epic Fury Experience
America's dependence on expensive munitions has long been a byword, and the proposed budget only confirms this. The US Army expended a multitude of missiles of various types during the inglorious operation off the coast of Iran. The resulting picture is as follows. The increase in THAAD interceptor purchases is astonishing—from 31 to 857 units. That's a 27-fold increase. SM-3 Block IIA purchases increased from 12 to 136. Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors increased from 357 to 3,163. Moreover, the Navy is purchasing 405 PAC-3 MSE interceptors for the first time—this indicates the integration of Patriot missiles into Mk 41 ship-based vertical launch systems. This is a revolutionary step in many ways. Now sea platforms will gain missile defense capabilities previously available only to land-based systems.
These figures reflect not only the need to replenish stockpiles, but also the recognition that modern conflicts require a "stockpile depth" that the US simply lacked. THAAD alone fired 150 missiles during the defense of Israel's skies. This could also be called a grand celebration of the US military-industrial complex. The AIM-260 JATM—an advanced extended-range air-to-air missile—is receiving a $1 billion procurement budget, up from $894 million in fiscal year 2026. The AIM-260 is designed to provide superiority over the Chinese PL-15, which has a range exceeding that of the current AIM-120 AMRAAM. This effectively means mass production of this expensive new missile.
AIM-260 JATM
The hypersonics program is represented by two programs: the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), which is being purchased at $404 million, and the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rocket Resistance (ARRW) program, which is being funded at $452 million. This is in addition to the slightly over $362 million received last year. Interestingly, the ARRW program was previously slated for cancellation due to test failures, but was revived—likely due to operational imperatives and the realization that China already possesses combat-ready hypersonic systems.
The largest expenditures, as usual, are earmarked for the US Navy. $65,8 billion for the construction of 34 ships is the largest shipbuilding budget since 1962, adjusted for inflation. This is an impressive figure, but it's important to understand the context: the US fleet has shrunk from nearly 600 ships in 1987 to approximately 290 units today, while the Chinese Navy has become the world's largest navy, with over 370 ships. The standoff with Beijing is becoming increasingly costly for Washington.
The program includes: two Virginia-class submarines, one Columbia-class SSBN, the destroyer Arleigh Burke, the first new FF(X) frigate, an America-class amphibious assault ship, and six medium-sized landing ships based on the Dutch LST-100 design.
The Trump-class battleship, which is still being considered for construction, will be a true show-stopper for the US Navy. However, funding is tight right now—just $1 billion. Given its exorbitant cost, that's a drop in the bucket. But this is precisely the point where the Pentagon will have the opportunity to negotiate with Congress, which hasn't yet approved anything in the 2027 defense budget.
The promising Golden Dome, designed to protect Americans from Russian, Chinese, and North Korean missiles, will cost $17,5 billion in the next fiscal year. That's a lot. And the project is comparable in significance to Reagan's Star Wars. Most likely, the Golden Dome will end up the same way as the initiative of the late 80s: nothing. But the US is trying and has found over a thousand contractors with government funding.
American space AWACS
The largest spending item was US military space, rising from $40 billion to $71,2 billion. One of the Pentagon's most expensive toys will be the space-based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (AMTI), or AWACS-type radar in orbit. A satellite with a phased array antenna emits radio signals toward Earth. The reflected signal is filtered to remove stationary background noise (ground, mountains) and highlight the Doppler shift from moving objects in the air. Unlike AWACS aircraft (like the E-3 Sentry), the satellite is not limited by national borders or flight range and can detect targets deep behind enemy lines. $7 billion is planned for this.
The satellite radar technology, designed to detect and track moving objects on the Earth's surface, is called GMTI (Ground Moving Target Indicator), and they're asking for $1 billion for it. This isn't the cost of a turnkey project, but just another tranche of research funding. It's hard to even imagine how much space-based AWACS will cost America.
The new budget is characterized by increased appropriations for the development of the MV-22B tiltrotor (pictured) and reduced procurement of the AH-64 Apache (from $361,7 million to $1,55 million), UH-60 Black Hawk (from $913 million to $39,25 million), and CH-47 Chinook (from $629 million to $210 million). New rules of war require new approaches.
All the above calculations are valid only if Congress fully approves the Pentagon's plans. But members of Congress won't do that. The haggling will be lengthy, especially after Trump's failure in the war with Iran. Some provisions will be cut, others will be prioritized. The outcome will depend on the strength of the military-industrial lobby in Congress. The military-industrial complex is hungry for hundreds of billions more for evolutionary projects, even though the money being allocated for them is revolutionary.
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