Wittman Supports Advancement of Legislation to Strengthen Our National Defense and Revitalize the Defense Industrial Base

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01), vice chairman of the House Committee on Armed Services and chairman of the subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (TAL), voted in favor of the committee's passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27).

"This year's NDAA strengthens our national defense by revitalizing our defense industrial base, restoring the lethality of our military, improving servicemembers' quality of life, and strengthening our ability to deter our adversaries. At a time when adversaries such as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia continue to accelerate the production of advanced technologies and threaten the ideals that define America, we must ensure our military has the resources and capabilities they need to remain the most prepared and technologically advanced fighting force in the world.

"Over the last thirty years, the defense industrial base has atrophied severely due to declining investment and bureaucratic red tape. For Virginia, where the defense sector generates tens of billions of dollars in economic activity annually and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, these challenges have real consequences for our communities and national security. Shipbuilders, manufacturers, research institutions, and military installations across the Commonwealth play a critical role in equipping our servicemembers with the resources they need to do their jobs safely while maintaining a competitive edge against our adversaries. This NDAA delivers important wins for Virginia by investing in shipbuilding and military construction projects, advancing nuclear technology development, and strengthening workforce recruitment and retention - ensuring Virginia remains at the forefront of defense innovation.

"I am pleased to see that many of my priorities were included in this year's NDDA, and I look forward to supporting its passage on the House Floor." - Rep. Rob Wittman

"Chairman Wittman is well aware that our national security is built on a solid industrial base, and the people who power it, like the men and women in Virginia who are producing the ammunition, vehicles, and ships our military needs. His work on the NDAA is critical to revitalizing defense manufacturing, expanding our skilled workforce, and expediting cutting-edge capabilities to our warfighters. With his leadership, we'll rebuild the Arsenal of Freedom and strengthen American deterrence." - Chairman Rogers

This legislation includes dozens of Congressman Wittman's priorities:

Shipbuilding

• Fully funds Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarine production.

  • Specifically for two Virginia-class submarines and one Columbia-class submarine.

• Authorizes incremental funding for long-lead time components for Virginia-class submarines.

• Fully funds Ford-class aircraft carrier production.

• Authorizes funding for two amphibious warships and authorizes the Navy to buy multiple amphibious ships at a time, save taxpayers millions of dollars

• Requires the Navy to enter into multi-year, multi-ship maintenance and repair contracts to provide additional certainty to the ship repair industrial base.

Quality of Life and Military Workforce

• Gives service members a 5%-7% pay raise

• Establishes demonstration projects to increase recruitment and retention at public naval shipyards, regional maintenance centers, and Trident refit facilities.

• Establishes a project to ensure that ICBM operational wings and sustainment facilities maintain the workforce necessary to continue ongoing modernization efforts.

• Requires a briefing on how the credit for prior learning policies can be aligned to promote the translation of military experience into academic credit.

Defense Innovation and Acquisition Reform

• Establishes a new transfer authority allowing military acquisition executives to rapidly move successful prototype technologies from research and development into procurement, accelerating the delivery of innovative capabilities to the warfighter.

• Strengthens the Defense Innovation Unit's ability to transition emerging commercial technologies into military programs by codifying coordination between DIU and the military service acquisition organizations.

• Expands Modular Open Systems Architecture requirements across Department of Defense acquisition programs to improve interoperability, increase competition, reduce vendor lock-in, and accelerate technology modernization.

• Requires the Department to prioritize rules that will expedite and streamline the acquisition of commercial products and services.

Unmanned Systems and Tactical Aircraft

• Requires the Department of Defense to establish a common operating system framework for unmanned aircraft systems to enable interoperability across platforms, accelerate software integration, and rapidly deploy new capabilities.

• Requires the Navy to incorporate denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited communications operations into the development and acquisition of unmanned surface vessels, improving their effectiveness in contested environments.

• Directs the Department of Defense to develop a comprehensive strategy for sustaining and maintaining F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in contested logistics environments, including supply chain resilience, spare parts availability, and allied coordination.

• Establishes an Autonomy Integration Account to accelerate the resourcing and integration of autonomous capabilities, including navigation, targeting, communications, and battle management.

• Extends the prohibition on retiring E-3 Sentry aircraft and requires the Air Force to provide Congress with an acquisition plan and budget needs for the E-7 Wedgetail program.

Advanced Nuclear Development

• Fully funds advanced nuclear capabilities development, including TRISO fuel for Project Pele.

• Restores funding for the Navy Energy Program, which supports the small modular reactor (SMR) pilot program established in the FY26 NDAA.

• Requires a report detailing progress and milestones towards implementation of the SMR pilot program.

Congressman Wittman also secured wins for Virginia:

• Funds a hybrid robotic demonstration program in Virginia to support increased submarine production capacity.

• Authorizes $843.282 million in military construction projects across Virginia, including $130.662 million for projects at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Virginia's First District.

• Directs a report on expanding successful childcare programs established at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

• Authorizes funding to construct four child development centers across Virginia.

• Includes funding for a counter-UAS testing and research center at Virginia Tech.

• Expands eligibility for the Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP) to allow Virginia's Indian tribes, and tribes around the country, to apply for and receive DCIP grants.