“I believe this budget, aligned to the National Defense Strategy, represents the best balance of resources to support these critical efforts. Therefore, at this time, the Marine Corps Unfunded Priority List has no items to report,” wrote Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith in an April 23 letter to the heads of the congressional defense committees.
The FY27 request: a record-shattering $1.5 trillion
The Defense Department's fiscal 2027 budget request stands at $1.5 trillion — a 44 percent increase over the FY26 budget, which itself was the first to reach $1 trillion. That scale helps explain an unusual effect: multiple services and combatant commands told Congress they have no unfunded requirements for FY27.
Which services and combatant commands reported no unfunded requirements
Breaking Defense obtained unfunded priority list (UPL) submissions showing a notable number of empty or minimal lists. Indo-Pacific Command head Gen. Samuel Paparo told lawmakers he had no unfunded requirements. In separate UPL letters, the leaders of the Marine Corps, Space Force, Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Space Command (SPACECOM), Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Central Command (CENTCOM) also reported no unfunded requirements for FY27. Breaking Defense first reported on April 29 that SPACECOM would submit an empty UPL.
Which services did submit UPLs — and what they requested
Despite several empty lists, the Army, Navy and Air Force did submit UPLs, but their requests are small relative to past years and concentrated entirely on military construction (MILCON).
- The Air Force submitted the largest FY27 UPL: 41 MILCON projects totaling $1.7 billion. Its top priority is $26.3 million for “fuel tanks with receipt pipeline and hydrant system” on Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands. Other notable Air Force items include a $182 million multi-domain operations complex for Beale Air Force Base, California, and a $110 million E-7 Wedgetail squadron operations facility at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
- The Army’s MILCON wishlist totals $731 million, including $157 million for “JRTC rotational unit billeting” at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and $147 million for a dining facility at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
- The Navy requested $602 million across six MILCON projects. Its top priority is a $50 million request to accelerate construction of a “Submarine Support Storage, Maintenance, and Operations Facility” at Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, moving the project from FY28 into FY27. The single most expensive Navy item is a $169 million Naval Ocean Processing Expansion for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, described as providing space for planned personnel growth, housing modernized equipment for a new undersea surveillance mission, and facilities for Theater Undersea Surveillance Command (TUSC) to conduct test and evaluation and program management for new surveillance systems.
All told, the Army, Navy and Air Force unfunded requests amount to roughly $3 billion and are limited to MILCON projects.
U.S. Southern Command’s UPL and how it’s organized
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) submitted a $229.9 million wish list for FY27, up from $60 million in FY26. SOUTHCOM broke its unfunded priorities into four broad areas: $56.5 million for strengthening command and control; $162.9 million for ongoing efforts against designated terrorist organizations; $16 million for developing and fielding modernized forces; and $14.5 million for securing “strategic key terrain.”
Implications for Naval undersea surveillance, Air Force facilities on Tinian, and SOUTHCOM operations
- Naval undersea surveillance: The Navy’s $169 million Naval Ocean Processing Expansion at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is explicitly tied to planned personnel growth, housing modernized equipment for a new undersea surveillance mission, and providing TUSC with test, evaluation and program management space — concrete facilities to support an identified mission set.
- Air Force presence in the Pacific and CONUS basing: The Air Force’s prioritized requests include a relatively modest $26.3 million fuel infrastructure project on Tinian and larger projects at Beale and Tinker Air Force Base, which would respectively house multi-domain operations functions and E-7 squadron operations support.
- SOUTHCOM operations: SOUTHCOM’s $229.9 million UPL is split across command-and-control, counterterrorism, force modernization and securing strategic terrain, signaling where the combatant command has identified gaps despite an otherwise expansive departmental budget request.
Context sharpens the contrast: FY26 unfunded requests totaled around $50 billion and included major weapon-system asks such as F-35s and development funds for the Navy’s sixth-generation F/A-XX fighter. By comparison, FY27’s active UPLs are concentrated, smaller, and largely MILCON-focused — while several services and commands say they have no unfunded priorities at all. The Defense Department’s $1.5 trillion request has now reached Capitol Hill alongside these lists, leaving Congress to weigh the budget’s scale against a relatively modest set of unfunded construction and mission-support projects.
Source: Breaking Defense — No unfunded requirements in FY27, say some services, COCOMs
