The defense budget request, line by line
Every February the Department of Defense publishes what it wants to spend, broken down to individual programme lines: which service, which appropriation, how much for each year. It is the earliest public statement of intent in the whole market, and it arrives a year or more before the solicitations it becomes.
UEI, CAGE, then normalized name
The FY2027 defense budget request
What the Department of Defense asked Congress for, line by line, a year or more before any of it turns into a solicitation. Each request since FY2012 is on file, so a line is followed from one year's request to the next.
The five largest lines in the request
| Budget line | Who is asking | Exhibit | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0400D0400D | OSD | Research and development (R-1) | $54.60B |
| 0400D0400D | OSD | Research and development (R-1) | $41.82B |
| 0300D0300D | OSD | Procurement (P-1) | $30.71B |
| 0100D0100D | Operation and maintenance (O-1) | $24.58B | |
| 0146D0146D | DHA | Operation and maintenance (O-1) | $22.18B |
Members read the whole request: every line filtered by service and exhibit, the biggest increases and cuts against last year, and the awards that already went out under the same programs.
Where the money is asked for
The three exhibits
P-1, procurement
Things being bought: aircraft, ships, vehicles, ammunition, spares, equipment. The exhibit closest to what a supplier can actually sell into.
R-1, research and development
Programme elements from basic research through to operational prototypes. Where a programme lives for years before anything is procured.
O-1, operation and maintenance
Running the force: depot maintenance, base support, training, facilities, services. The largest services spending in the federal government sits here.
How to read a request without misreading it
A request states three years at once: what was enacted the year before, what is being asked for now, and sometimes what is projected after. Adding all three together triples the budget, which is the single most common mistake made with these files. Every figure on this site is the year actually being requested.
A request is also not an appropriation and not an award. Congress changes it, a continuing resolution can delay all of it, and a line that survives still has to become a solicitation. What a request is good for is direction and timing: which programmes are growing, which are being cut, and roughly when the buying will start.
Read next
- Bills in CongressWhether Congress agrees with the request.
- Federal rulesWhat the buying is about to require.
- Open noticesWhat is actually open today.
See who was last awarded in your NAICS
Every code, every buying office, every vendor and every recompete, organized from the federal record and read nightly. Open it with a plan.