The Air Force is emphasizing operations and maintenance and research and development. The Army and Navy plan buying sprees. The Space Force budget is approaching—and may yet surpass—that of the the Marine Corps. And non-service “Defense-Wide” funding got the biggest bump of all.
Those are among the topline takeaways from the Pentagon’s blockbuster $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027. Air & Space Forces Magazine compiled comparisons from the budget overview released earlier this month by the DOD comptroller; additional details are set for release on April 21.
The Department of the Air Force’s topline is about $397 billion—the largest of the military departments. That budget includes budgets for the Air Force, the Space Force, and money that passes through the department directly to other agencies. The pass-through total in past years has typically been about 21 to 22 percent; assuming the pass-through for 2027 is in that ballpark, it could account for $80 billion or more of the total; the data released by the comptroller identifies $74.3 billion for unspecified classified programs in 2027, but it’s unclear for now how much of that spending would be for Air Force programs and how much would simply pass through to others.
Department of the Air Force (in thousands)
| Category | 2026 | 2027 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | $263,735,165 | $321,451,261 | $57,716,096 |
| Space Force | $42,700,833 | $75,886,314 | $33,185,481 |
| Department of the Air Force | $306,435,998 | $397,337,575 | $90,901,577 |
| Programs Marked Classified | $54,566,509 | $74,323,806 | $19,757,297 |
| TOTAL without classified | $251,869,489 | $323,013,769 | $71,144,280 |
The next largest department by funding is the Department of the Navy, which includes the Marine Corps, at more than $377 billion, followed by the Department of the Army, at slightly more than $252 billion.
Broken down by individual military services, the Navy is in line for the biggest budget share, with a topline of $324 billion, followed by the Air Force at about $264 billion (after accounting for pass-through), the Army at $252 billion, the Space Force at a record $75 billion, and the Marine Corps at around $53 billion. Some Marine Corps expenses, such as for aircraft procurement, are included in the Navy numbers, which makes direct comparisons difficult.
2027 Toplines by Service (in thousands)
| Service | Total |
|---|---|
| Defense-Wide | $408,837,429 |
| Navy | $324,859,183 |
| Air Force | $321,451,261 |
| Army | $252,328,112 |
| Space Force | $75,886,314 |
| Marine Corps | $52,820,801 |
Among the five service branches, the Space Force would grow the fastest: If approved as requested, USSF spending would rise by 77 percent over fiscal 2026. The Marine Corps is next, at just shy of 35 percent, followed by the Air Force, Navy, and Army, which range from 21 percent to 23 percent. Dwarfing all of them, however, are other Defense Department agencies, which together more than double, growing by an unprecedented 121 percent year over year.
Percentage Change from 2026 to 2027 (in thousands)
| Service | Percentage Increase from 2026 to 2027 |
|---|---|
| Defense-Wide | 121.01% |
| Space Force | 77.72% |
| Marine Corps | 34.94% |
| Army | 23.38% |
| Air Force | 21.88% |
| Navy | 21.41% |
Each military service took its own approach to allocating its resources.
For the Air Force, spending on research, development, test, and evaluation rose the most, increasing 30 percent, or more than $17 billion. That includes $5 billion for the new F-47 fighter, $4.5 billion for the Sentinel ICBM, and more than $2 billion each for the new B-21 bomber and E-4C Survivable Air Operations Center. The next largest increase, more than 20 percent, would fund operations and maintenance accounts, a follow-through on senior leaders’ pledge to fund improved readiness.
In contrast, the Army and Navy intend to invest heavily in new weapons. Army procurement would nearly double, from $31 billion to $61 billion, while Navy procurement would rise by 45 percent, to nearly $144 billion.
Notably, the Navy is asking to double its aircraft procurement from $17.75 billion to $34.4 billion, including both Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. If approved as submitted, the Navy’s 2027 aircraft purchases would eclipse those of the Air Force, which is seeking $30.6 billion for aircraft procurement. When it comes to combat jets, Air Force combat aircraft procurement would actually decline from 2026 to 2027, according to budget documents released so far.
The Navy intends to raise shipbuilding investment from $45 billion to $65.8 billion, and to double its purchases of missiles, from $10.1 billion to $22.6 billion.
Missiles lead the Army’s shopping list, as it seeks to more than quadruple its spending on missiles, from $8 billion in 2026 to $36.6 billion in 2027. That includes both projectiles for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Patriot air defense systems, as well as funds for a pricey Precision Strike Missile, estimated to cost as much as $3.5 million apiece.
Both the Army and Navy kept their RDT&E funding essentially flat—the Army figure rising 2 percent while the Navy would raise R&D funding by just 0.8 percent. Both services would invest in military readiness, with the Navy increasing its O&M spending by 11 percent an the Army increasing its investment by more than 20 percent.
Surprisingly, the greatest increases in procurement and R&D would be in defense-wise programs, rather than those operated by the individual services. “Defense-Wide” spending, which includes the office of the Secretary of Defense, the combatant commands, the joint staff, and dozens of defense agencies, would ore than double its spending, rising from about $185 billion in fiscal 2026 to more than $400 billion in 2027—a 121 percent increase.
Much of that would go to the Missile Defense Agency, which is expected to have an outsized role in the President Donald Trump’s signature “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative. But MDA is not the biggest winner. The largest chunk of those funds will be spent within the Office of the Secretary of Defense—around $180 billion more in 2027 just for procurement and research and development. Full details on how that money would be spent are not yet available, but the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, a little-known organization that appears to have succeeded the prior administration’s Replicator drone initiative, appears to be a big winner with $53.6 billion in new funds.
The budget also include $17.5 billion in a “Golden Dome for America” fund. Most of the money in that fund goes toward MDA and other defense agencies, but some is earmarked for Army, Air Force, and “Space” programs. Other funding in support of Golden Dome is contained within service budgets, such as money earmarked for the Space Force’s missile warning satellites.
Golden Dome 2027 Budget Request (in thousands)
| Account | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Operation and maintenance | $334,200 | $1,149,234 |
| Procurement | $1,296,200 | $2,147,100 |
| RDT&E | $19,312,700 | $14,221,788 |
| Advanced component development and prototypes | $22,000 | $0 |
| Operational system development | $132,000 | $0 |
| Total | $21,097,100 | $17,518,122 |
The following table provides an overview of compiled data by Air & Space Forces Magazine, based on budget documents released by the Pentagon comptroller. All totals include Guard and Reserve components. Personnel funding includes retiree health care fund contributions. The Marine Corps and Space Force do not have separate accounts for military construction. Marine Corps aviation is included in the Navy procurement budget.