Analysis Pieces

The Senate’s narrow vote on July 1 sent a 940-page reconciliation measure – nicknamed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – back to the House. At stake is a $150 billion defense add-on that aligns with President Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” plan. According to senior floor staff, the chamber logged 27 straight hours of debate before Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tiebreaker. The clock now runs fast. Expiring 2017 tax cuts force leaders to clear the bill before January, but Pentagon comptrollers warn that some programs need signatures long before the fiscal year closes.

The U.S. Navy built its Fiscal Year 2026 weapons plan around one assumption. Congress will pass a one-time reconciliation bill that adds billions to the base defense budget. Inside that bill sits most of the money for 139 Standard Missile-6 interceptors. The service’s own accounts cover only ten rounds. Navy comptrollers describe those ten as “placeholders,” not a viable production lot.

The House Appropriations Committee circulated its full fiscal 2026 defense draft late on 28 June, two days before the Pentagon is expected to send over its own request. The text assigns $832 billion in discretionary authority, matching last year’s enacted figure and staying under the current spending cap. Senior committee aides state the panel relied on the continuing-resolution baseline while it waited for a complete budget package from the administration. Defense officials confirm the bill will serve as the chamber’s opening position when conference talks begin this autumn.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has closed the books on its Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations program. Defense officials confirm the termination order went out late Monday. The move ends a five-year push to field a nuclear-thermal upper stage able to sprint between Earth and the Moon. According to industry sources, the agency pulled remaining funds into other space access lines once it judged the return on investment had vanished.

The Air Force just pulled part of its Sentinel missile budget and pointed it at a different job: turning a Qatari Boeing 747-8 into a stop-gap Air Force One. The switch appeared in a Senate hearing on June 26. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink told lawmakers the dollars came from “early-to-need” lines that the missile team will not touch this year. Defense officials confirm the move keeps the main Sentinel timeline steady because no planned hardware ships late.

European governments just backed the most aggressive defense-spending target in NATO history. NATO leaders left The Hague with a pledge to lift defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product. The commitment came only days after several EU capitals pushed double-digit increases through their 2025 draft budgets. Germany alone confirmed a rise from €95 billion to €162 billion within four years.

Paris closed the gates of Le Bourget last night. Crowds went home with ringing ears and packed phones. When we look at the tally, two facts stand out. Airbus walked away with the bulk of commercial orders. The defense sector filled almost half of every hall. Those two forces shaped a show that felt different from any edition in recent memory.

Fresh air-to-air photos released on Chinese and foreign social media within the last forty-eight hours show two J-35 prototypes – serials 3501 and 3506 – in razor-sharp clarity. The images answer long-standing questions about the fighter’s finish, engines, and deck-handling features, while offering new clues on production status.