H.R. 8800

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

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

C Initiating biomedical outcomes to garner advancements into innovative efficacy

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

Sec. 1773. Definitions 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

In this subtitle:

(1) The term Archivist means the Archivist of the United States.

(2) The term close observer means anyone who has come into close proximity to unidentified anomalous phenomena or non-human intelligence.

(3) The term Collection means the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection established under section 1741.

(4) The term Controlled Disclosure Campaign Plan means the Controlled Disclosure Campaign Plan required by section 1746(c)(3).

(5) The term controlling authority means any Federal, State, or local government department, office, agency, committee, commission, commercial company, academic institution, or private sector entity in physical possession of technologies of unknown origin or biological evidence of non-human intelligence.

(6) The term Director means the Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

(7) The term Executive agency has the meaning given that term in section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code.

(8) The term Government office means any department, office, agency, committee, or commission of the Federal Government and any independent office or agency without exception that has possession or control, including via contract or other agreement, of unidentified anomalous phenomena records.

(9) The term identification aid means the written description prepared for each record, as required in section 1741.

(10) The term leadership of Congress means—

(A) the majority leader of the Senate;

(B) the minority leader of the Senate;

(C) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

(D) the minority leader of the House of Representatives.

(11) The term legacy program means all Federal, State, and local government, commercial industry, academic, and private sector endeavors to collect, exploit, or reverse engineer technologies of unknown origin or examine biological evidence of living or deceased non-human intelligence that pre-dates the date of the enactment of this Act.

(12) The term National Archives means the National Archives and Records Administration and all components thereof, including presidential archival depositories established under section 2112 of title 44, United States Code.

(13) The term non-human intelligence means any sentient intelligent non-human lifeform regardless of nature or ultimate origin that may be presumed responsible for unidentified anomalous phenomena or of which the Federal Government has become aware.

(14) The term originating body means the Executive agency, Federal Government commission, committee of Congress, or other Governmental entity that created a record or particular information within a record.

(15) The term prosaic attribution means having a human (either foreign or domestic) origin and operating according to current, proven, and generally understood scientific and engineering principles and established laws-of-nature and not attributable to non-human intelligence.

(16) The term public interest means the compelling interest in the prompt public disclosure of unidentified anomalous phenomena records for historical and Governmental purposes and for the purpose of fully informing the people of the United States about the history of the Federal Government’s knowledge and involvement surrounding unidentified anomalous phenomena.

(17) The term record includes a book, paper, report, memorandum, directive, email, text, or other form of communication, or map, photograph, sound or video recording, machine-readable material, computerized, digitized, or electronic information, including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and target acquisition sensor data, regardless of the medium on which it is stored, or other documentary material, regardless of its physical form or characteristics.

(18) The term Review Board means the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Review Board established by section 1744.

(19) The term technologies of unknown origin means any materials or meta-materials, ejecta, crash debris, mechanisms, machinery, equipment, assemblies or sub-assemblies, engineering models or processes, damaged or intact aerospace vehicles, and damaged or intact ocean-surface and undersea craft associated with unidentified anomalous phenomena or incorporating science and technology that lacks prosaic attribution or known means of human manufacture.

(20) The term temporarily non-attributed objects means—

(A) the class of objects that temporarily resist prosaic attribution by the initial observer as a result of environmental or system limitations associated with the observation process that nevertheless ultimately have an accepted human origin or known physical cause. Although some unidentified anomalous phenomena may at first be interpreted as temporarily non-attributed objects, they are not temporarily non-attributed objects, and the two categories are mutually exclusive; and

(i) includes—

(I) natural celestial, meteorological, and undersea weather phenomena;

(II) mundane human-made airborne objects, clutter, and marine debris;

(III) Federal, State, and local government, commercial industry, academic, and private sector aerospace platforms;

(IV) Federal, State, and local government, commercial industry, academic, and private sector ocean-surface and undersea vehicles; and

(V) known foreign systems.

(21) The term third agency means a Government agency that originated a unidentified anomalous phenomena record that is in the possession of another Government agency.

(22) The term unidentified anomalous phenomena means—

(A) any object operating or judged capable of operating in outer-space, the atmosphere, ocean surfaces, or undersea lacking prosaic attribution due to performance characteristics and properties not previously known to be achievable based upon commonly accepted physical principles. Unidentified anomalous phenomena are differentiated from both attributed and temporarily non-attributed objects by one or more of the following observables:

(i) Instantaneous acceleration absent apparent inertia.

(ii) Hypersonic velocity absent a thermal signature and sonic shockwave.

(iii) Transmedium (such as space-to-ground and air-to-undersea) travel.

(iv) Positive lift contrary to known aerodynamic principles.

(v) Multispectral signature control.

(vi) Physical or invasive biological effects to close observers and the environment; and

(vii) includes what were previously described as—

(I) flying discs;

(II) flying saucers;

(III) unidentified aerial phenomena;

(IV) unidentified flying objects (UFOs); and

(V) unidentified submerged objects (USOs).

(23) The term unidentified anomalous phenomena record means a record that is related to unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, or non-human intelligence (and all equivalent subjects by any other name with the specific and sole exclusion of temporarily non-attributed objects) that was created or made available for use by, obtained by, or otherwise came into the possession of—

(A) the Executive Office of the President;

(B) the Department of Defense and its progenitors, the Department of War and the Department of the Navy;

(C) the Department of the Army;

(D) the Department of the Navy;

(E) the Department of the Air Force, specifically the Air Force Office of Special Investigations;

(F) the Department of Energy and its progenitors, the Manhattan Project, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Energy Research and Development Administration;

(G) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;

(H) the Central Intelligence Agency and its progenitor, the Office of Strategic Services;

(I) the National Reconnaissance Office;

(J) the Defense Intelligence Agency;

(K) the National Security Agency;

(L) the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency;

(M) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

(N) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(O) the Federal Aviation Administration;

(P) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(Q) the National Archives and Records Administration;

(R) any Presidential library;

(S) any Executive agency;

(T) any independent office or agency;

(U) any other department, office, agency, committee, or commission of the Federal Government;

(V) any State or local government department, office, agency, committee, or commission that provided support or assistance or performed work, in connection with a Federal inquiry into unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, or non-human intelligence; and

(W) any private sector person or entity formerly or currently under contract or some other agreement with the Federal Government.

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