Washington: The Missile Defence Agency’s budget request for fiscal 2026 is flat at $10.2 billion and depends on another $3 billion in supplemental funding not yet passed by Congress, bringing the total ask to $13.2 billion, according to Defence Department documents.
If both the budget and supplement were approved by Congress, the agency would receive a boost in funding from last year. “This budget represents a $2.8 billion increase (27%) over our FY 2025 enacted President’s Budget,” an MDA budget overview document states.
Of that total, MDA is requesting $10.5 billion in research, development, test and evaluation funding, $1.6 billion in procurement, $720.4 million in operations and maintenance and $306.4 million for military construction.
The agency asked for just $10.4 billion in fiscal 2025, $500 million less than the amount leaders had said the agency needed in the prior fiscal year. Without the supplemental funding, the FY26 base budget marks another small reduction.
While MDA’s budget is relatively flat, the Pentagon is planning to invest big in President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” for homeland defence.
The DOD is asking for $25 billion to buy more missile defence interceptors, such as Patriot air and missile defence missiles, “novel intercept capabilities including space-based systems” and a “down payment” on advanced sensors and command-and-control systems that will fit into the overall architecture, a defence official told reporters at the Pentagon.
The entirety of that $25 billion for Golden Dome is included in the Pentagon’s supplemental funding request that it is banking on Congress passing as part of a $113 billion party-line spending bill now under debate. It is unclear from publicly available documents if the $3 billion in supplemental funding that would be part of MDA’s budget is separate or part of the $25 billion Golden Dome request.
The agency plans to focus $3.2 billion in funding in fiscal 2026 for the Ground Based Midcourse Defence system, designed to defend the homeland against intercontinental ballistic missiles from Iran and North Korea.
