H.R. 8800

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

Sponsor: Mike Rogers

1 cosponsor
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

This bill sets forth policies and authorities for FY2027 for Department of Defense (DOD) programs, activities, and military construction as well as the national security programs of the Department of Energy (DOE).

Among other elements, the bill

  • authorizes the procurement of various items, including aircraft and ships;
  • sets active duty and reserve component personnel strength levels;
  • sets policy regarding various aspects of military health care and military compensation;
  • sets policy regarding DOD acquisitions and acquisition management, including contracting authorities and the acquisition workforce;
  • sets policy for various matters related to DOD interactions with foreign nations, including matters concerning Israel, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific;
  • sets policy for various matters related to DOD cybersecurity and artificial intelligence;
  • requires DOD to include projected demand for foreign military sales in certain contexts, including munitions production planning, sustainment planning for major defense acquisition programs, and decisions regarding production rate increases of defense articles;
  • requires DOD to establish an expedited qualification process for new domestic and allied sources of certain strategic materials, including specified metals, alloys, oxides, and magnets;
  • authorizes specified military construction projects and extends the authorization of certain projects from previous fiscal years; and 
  • authorizes the National Nuclear Security Administration, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Naval Petroleum Reserves, and Maritime Administration.

For additional information on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) see

  • In Focus IF10516, Defense Primer: Navigating the NDAA, and
  • In Focus IF10515, Defense Primer: The NDAA Process.

Text of the bill

Expand all

A Department of Defense Authorizations

I Procurement

A Authorization of Appropriations

B Army Programs

C Navy Programs

D Air Force Programs

E Defense-wide, Joint, and Multiservice Matters

II RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION

A Authorization of Appropriations

B Program Requirements, Restrictions, and Limitations

C Plans, Reports, and Other Matters

III Operation and Maintenance

A Authorization of Appropriations

B Energy and Environment

C Logistics and Sustainment

D Reports

E Other Matters

IV MILITARY PERSONNEL AUTHORIZATIONS

A Active Forces

B Reserve Forces

C Authorization of Appropriations

V MILITARY PERSONNEL POLICY

A Officer Policy and Reserve Component Management

B Recruitment, General Service Authorities and Prohibitions, and Military Records

C Member Training

D Member Education

E Military Justice

F Investigations and Other Legal Matters

G Career Transition

H Family Programs, Child Care, and Dependent Education

I Decorations and Awards

J Other Matters and Miscellaneous Reports

K Military Chaplains Modernization Act of 2026

VI MILITARY COMPENSATION AND OTHER BENEFITS

A Bonus and Incentive Pays

B Allowances

C Leave

D Family and Survivor Benefits

E Defense Resale Matters

F Other Benefits, Reports, and Briefings

VII Health Care Provisions

A TRICARE and Other Health Benefits

B Health Care Administration

C Studies, Reports, and Other Matters

VIII Acquisition Policy, Acquisition Management, and Related Matters

A Acquisition Policy and Management

B Amendments to General Contracting Authorities, Procedures, and Limitations

C Provisions Relating to Acquisition Workforce Development

D Intellectual Property Matters

E Other Matters

IX Department of Defense Organization and Management

X General Provisions

A Financial Matters

B Naval Vessels and Shipyards

C Counterterrorism

D Miscellaneous Authorities and Limitations

E Studies and Reports

F Other Matters

XI Civilian Personnel

XII Matters relating to Foreign Nations

A Assistance and Training

B Matters relating to the Near and Middle East

C Matters relating to Israel

D Matters relating to Europe

E Matters relating to the Indo-Pacific

F Reports

G Other matters

XIV Other Authorizations

A Military Programs

B Other Matters

XV Cyberspace-related Matters

A Cybersecurity

B Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence

C Reports and Other Matters

XVI Space Activities, Strategic Programs, and Intelligence Matters

A Space Activities

B Defense Intelligence and Intelligence-Related Activities

C Nuclear Forces

D Missile Defense Programs

E Other Matters

F Matters Relating to Adversary Supply Chains

XVII Other Defense Matters

A Miscellaneous Authorities and Limitations

B Other Matters

Sec. 1728. Operational pilot program on orbital data center services Added Jul 22

Where this section came from

Not in the first version (Introduced in House, May 13).

  1. Jul 22, 2026 · Engrossed in House H.Amdt. 256: An amendment numbered 20 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to prohibit male participation in female sports at DoDEA schools. Official page › H.Amdt. 255: An amendment numbered 19 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to prohibit gender related medical care under TRICARE and to prevent TRICARE from covering certain gender related medical procedures and treatments. Official page › H.Amdt. 253: An amendment numbered 17 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to establish a presumption of approval for qualified DoD servicemembers and civilian employees seeking authorization from their facility commander to carry personal firearms on military installations. Official page › H.Amdt. 248: An amendment numbered 7 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to amend the NDAA to protect a critical component of California 's defense fuel supply chain by ensuring the continued operation of the Santa Ynez Pipeline System, which transports domestically produced crude oil to refineries that supply Department of Defense installations. Official page › H.Amdt. 246: An amendment comprised of the following amendments printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 as en bloc No. 1: Nos. 10, 11, 13, 16, 21, 23, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, and 104. Official page › H.Amdt. 245: An amendment numbered 4 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to strike section 518, relating to the pilot program on modernization of drug testing using voice-based risk assessment technology to identify servicemembers for drug testing. Official page › H.Amdt. 265: An amendment comprised of the following amendments printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 as en bloc No. 5: Nos. 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 317, 318, 319, and 320. Official page › H.Amdt. 264: An amendment comprised of the following amendments printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 as en bloc No. 4: Nos. 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, and 265. Official page › H.Amdt. 263: An amendment comprised of the following amendments printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 as en bloc No. 3: Nos. 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, and 212. Official page › H.Amdt. 262: An amendment comprised of the following amendments printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 as en bloc No. 2: Nos. 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, and 158. Official page › H.Amdt. 261: An amendment numbered 44 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to prohibit the use of automated speed enforcement cameras on military installations. Official page › H.Amdt. 260: An amendment numbered 34 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to prohibit certain foreign nationals from designated countries of concern to access non-public areas of any National Laboratory. The restriction applies to visitors seeking access to laboratory facilities, information, or technology, while exempting lawful permanent residents and authorized laboratory personnel. Official page › H.Amdt. 258: An amendment numbered 28 printed in Part A of House Report 119-755 to codify protections and responsibilities for chaplains and subject such protections to prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Official page › H.Res. 1398: On Ordering the Previous Question — Passed, 215–210 · Roll Call 230 H.Res. 1398: On Agreeing to the Resolution — Failed, 198–224 · Roll Call 231 H.Res. 1438: On Ordering the Previous Question — Passed, 213–209 · Roll Call 253 H.Res. 1438: On Agreeing to the Resolution — Passed, 214–211 · Roll Call 254 On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 65–361 · Roll Call 255On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 61–360 · Roll Call 256On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 65–359 · Roll Call 257On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 265–161 · Roll Call 258On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 208–219 · Roll Call 259On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 215–214 · Roll Call 260On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 212–216 · Roll Call 261On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 201–224 · Roll Call 262On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 61–365 · Roll Call 263On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 76–350 · Roll Call 264On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 215–214 · Roll Call 265On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 212–217 · Roll Call 266On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 219–208 · Roll Call 267On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 221–203 · Roll Call 268On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 214–216 · Roll Call 269On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 221–210 · Roll Call 273On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 207–224 · Roll Call 274On Agreeing to the Amendment — Agreed to, 232–199 · Roll Call 275On Agreeing to the Amendment — Failed, 175–254 · Roll Call 276On Motion to Recommit — Failed, 213–216 · Roll Call 277On Passage — Passed, 216–212 · Roll Call 278

(a) Short title. This section may be cited as the “Nodes, Enterprise Workloads, and Hybrid Operations, Resilience, Integration, Zero-Trust, Orbital Networks Act” or “NEW HORIZON Act”.

(b) Findings. Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Modern national security space missions generate increasing volumes of data from space- based sensors, platforms, and constellations, placing growing demands on terrestrial data transport, processing, and analysis infrastructure.

(2) Reliance on ground-based data processing can introduce latency, bandwidth constraints, and vulnerabilities that may degrade the timeliness, resilience, and effectiveness of military and intelligence operations in contested environments.

(3) Commercial industry is developing orbital data center and space-based cloud computing capabilities that enable in-space data processing, storage, and analytics, which may reduce latency, enhance resilience, and improve mission outcomes.

(4) The Department of Defense has identified the need for hybrid architectures that integrate space, terrestrial, and commercial capabilities to support joint and national security missions.

(5) An operational pilot program is necessary to evaluate the military utility, operational integration, and transition potential of orbital data center services through real-world mission use cases before any broader adoption or sustained acquisition.

(6) Maintaining a competitive and resilient domestic industrial base for orbital infrastructure, including satellite platforms, communications systems, and in-space computing capabilities, is important to accelerating innovation and supporting operational resilience.

(c) Pilot program

(1) In general. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense (referred to in this Act as the Secretary), acting through the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit, shall carry out an operational pilot program under the Hybrid Space Architecture initiative to evaluate the use of commercially available orbital data center services and space-based cloud computing capabilities relevant to national security space and joint mission requirements.

(2) Purposes. The purposes of the pilot program shall be—

(A) to assess the military utility of orbital data center and space-based cloud computing services;

(B) to evaluate the operational integration of such services into existing and planned Department of Defense space and joint architectures;

(C) to examine the resilience, latency, security, and mission assurance benefits of in-space data processing;

(D) to inform the potential transition of such services into sustained programs of record or operational use;

(E) to evaluate concepts of operations for the protection and defense of orbital data center assets against kinetic, nonkinetic, and cyber threats;

(F) to assess the asset protection strategies and vulnerabilities of orbital data center infrastructure; and

(G) to evaluate the integration and operational performance of interoperable, commercially provided orbital infrastructure components sourced from multiple vendors across the hybrid space architecture ecosystem.

(3) Scope. In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary may—

(A) employ commercially available orbital data center services in support of real-world mission scenarios, including intelligence, space domain awareness, command and control, data transport, and other national security applications;

(B) conduct testing, demonstration, and limited operational employment necessary to assess technical performance and operational viability; and

(C) support integration activities required to evaluate interoperability with the Department of Defense’s space, ground, and network systems.

(4) Acquisition authority. The Secretary shall encourage competitive participation from a diverse set of nontraditional defense contractors and commercial space providers.

(5) Security and resilience measures for sensitive and classified information. In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall ensure that any orbital data center services used to process, store, or transmit sensitive or classified information have in place—

(A) cybersecurity protections, including zero-trust architecture, encryption, identity and access management, continuous monitoring, and protections against insider threats;

(B) risk-management measures—

(i) to address supply chain vulnerabilities and foreign ownership, control, or influence; and

(ii) that achieve compliance with applicable Department of Defense cybersecurity and authorization requirements;

(C) resilience and mission assurance capabilities, including redundancy, failover, operation in degraded or contested environments, and rapid reconstitution or replacement capabilities;

(D) protections against cyber, electronic warfare, counterspace, and other nonkinetic threats;

(E) secure telemetry, tracking, and command links and associated command-and-control systems, including authenticated command uplinks, encrypted telemetry and data links, anti-spoofing and anti-jamming protections, resilient cryptographic key management, protected timing and navigation inputs, and secure software and firmware update mechanisms;

(F) protections for associated ground systems, mission operations centers, terrestrial network connections, software supply chains, and user access interfaces, including segmentation, continuous monitoring, access controls, encryption, and resilience against cyber intrusion, disruption, and unauthorized access; and

(G) protections to ensure workload isolation, tenant separation, and data sovereignty for sensitive or classified information processed, stored, or transmitted through orbital data center services, including safeguards against unauthorized cross-tenant, cross-domain, or provider access.

(6) Integration and interoperability. The Secretary shall ensure that any orbital data center services evaluated under the pilot program are interoperable with existing Department of Defense command, control, communications, and intelligence systems.

(7) Consultation. In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit, shall consult with—

(A) the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy;

(B) service acquisition executives (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code);

(C) the Space Force and other military departments with potential operational interest or transition pathways;

(D) the National Reconnaissance Office;

(E) the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and

(F) such other individuals and organizations as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(8) Briefing. Not later than December 31, 2028, the Secretary shall provide the congressional defense committees (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code) with a briefing on—

(A) execution of the pilot program;

(B) operational use cases evaluated;

(C) lessons learned from operational employment;

(D) recommendations regarding future acquisition or operational use of orbital data center services;

(E) cybersecurity risks, insider threat vulnerabilities, and mitigation measures;

(F) resilience against counterspace threats and contested space environments;

(G) commercial provider risks, including supply chain and foreign ownership concerns; and

(H) recommendations for security, resilience, and acquisition requirements for any future program of record.

(d) Termination. The authority to carry out the pilot program under this section shall terminate on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(e) Orbital data center defined. In this section, the term “orbital data center” means a space-based computing, data storage, or networking capability, including 1 or more spacecraft, hosted payloads, or distributed orbital architectures, designed primarily to provide persistent, scalable, or shared in-orbit processing, analysis, storage, fusion, routing, or dissemination of data as a distinct operational capability, rather than as a function ancillary to the primary mission of a spacecraft, prior to transmission to terrestrial or other external infrastructure, including to reduce latency, mitigate bandwidth constraints, improve operational resilience, or support time- sensitive missions.

C Initiating biomedical outcomes to garner advancements into innovative efficacy

D Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection At the National Archives and Records Administration

XVIII Revitalization of the Defense Industrial Base

A Provisions to Protect and Strengthen Supply Chains

B Provisions Relating to Defense Industrial Base Manufacturing

C Organic Industrial Base

D Small Business Matters

E Defense Industrial Base Workforce Matters

F Other Matters

B Military Construction Authorizations

XXI Army Military Construction

XXII Navy Military Construction

XXIII Air Force Military Construction

XXIV Defense Agencies Military Construction

XXV International Programs

A North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program

B Host Country In-Kind Contributions

XXVI Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities

XXVII Base Realignment and Closure Activities

XXVIII Military Construction General Provisions

A Military Construction Programs

B Military Housing Reforms

C Real Property and Facilities Administration

D Land Conveyances and Withdrawals

E Pilot Programs

F Miscellaneous Authorities

G Reports and Other Matters

C Department of Energy National Security Authorizations and Other Authorizations

XXXI Department of Energy National Security Programs

A National Security Programs and Authorizations

B Program Authorizations, Restrictions, and Limitations

C Reports and Other Matters

XXXII Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

XXXIV Naval Petroleum Reserves

XXXV Maritime Administration

A Authorization of Appropriations

A Maritime Administration

B Merchant Marine Academy

C Other Matters

D Coast Guard

E Maritime Workforce and Education

XXXVI SHIPs for America

A Oversight and Accountability

B Maritime Security Trust Fund

C Sealift capability

D Vessels of the United States in international commerce

1 Strategic sealift programs

2 Cargo preference

3 Regulatory reform

E Shipbuilding

1 Shipbuilding financial incentives

2 Department of Defense Programs

3 Shipbuilding innovation and infrastructure

F Workforce Development

1 Workforce incentives

2 Workforce Pipeline

3 United States Merchant Marine Academy and State maritime academies

4 Maritime Credentialing Modernization

D Funding Tables

XLI Procurement

XLII Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation

XLIII Operation and Maintenance

XLIV Military Personnel

XLV Other Authorizations

XLVI Military Construction

XLVII Department of Energy National Security Programs

E SAVE America Act