WASHINGTON — It’s much like the time every year when children the world over stamp envelopes for the North Pole and enclose their deepest desires for Santa Claus — only this happens in the spring or summer, deals in potentially billions of dollars-worth of weapons instead of toys and is legally mandated. That’s right, it’s Unfunded Priorities List (UPL) season.
Every year after the Pentagon presents its formal budget request to the Hill, each military service, as well as combatant commands, follows up with another document for lawmakers, this time outlining what they would do if Congress deigned to give them more money than initially requested — whether its reviving a seemingly stalled next-gen fighter program or tripling down on investments in drone warfare.
This year Breaking Defense obtained several UPLs recently sent to lawmakers. Here are some highlights from our reporting so far:
- Navy puts $1.4B for F/A-XX next-gen fighter in its annual wish list to lawmakers
- Drones and ammunition: Army chief hands lawmakers $4.3 billion wish list for FY26
- Air Force, Space Force seek $16B extra for FY26 ‘unfunded priorities’
- National Guard adds F-15EXs, F-35s to $2.4B unfunded wish list for FY26
- A look at the wish lists for CENTCOM, NORTHCOM, SOUTHCOM, INDOPACOM and STRATCOM
UPDATED 7/9/2025 at 1:45pm ET to revise total in money requested from different services and combatant commands.