"What we need is $1.5 trillion, the configuration of that budget, that's a political decision for policy makers," Gen. Dan Caine said, framing the funding fight that will undergird next week's Air, Space & Cyber conference.
Gen. Dan Caine’s budget pitch and the reconciliation shortfall
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine has publicly pressed for full funding of the administration’s multiyear proposal, urging a $1.5 trillion configuration to sustain service priorities. His appeal follows lawmakers’ steep reduction of reconciliation funding: the administration sought $350 billion, but Congress pared that request to $60 billion to support Iran war operations. Caine made the plea at the NDIA Emerging Technologies Conference and is scheduled to speak at the Air and Space Force Association event next week.
Operation Epic Fury and the operational drivers for spending
Three days after top military leaders left the Air and Space Force Association’s February conference, the U.S. and Israel struck Iran, commencing Operation Epic Fury. More than six months later, that unresolved conflict remains a central rationale for programmatic and supplemental funding requests. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach told lawmakers in April the Air Force will need supplemental funding to replace aircraft lost during Operation Epic Fury; the service also lost "dozens of MQ-9 Reaper drones" in the fight, a loss cited by officials as a driver for replacement programs.
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End the scrambleMassed Modular Aircraft (MMA) as the MQ-9 replacement
In response to the Reaper losses, the Air Force is moving toward fielding a new class of systems under its Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) program. Service officials at a Pentagon roundtable indicated Air Force Secretary Troy Meink will offer updates at AFA. Lt. Gen. Christopher J. Niemi, the Air Force’s chief modernization officer, told reporters he expects Secretary Meink will outline "where he wants to go in terms of numbers and timeline," and reiterated "his expectation is we need to bring it to the left," signaling a push for accelerated fielding and procurement timelines.
Golden Dome missile defense and Guetlein’s warning
The military-wide Golden Dome missile defense program faces acute funding risk. A four-star Space Force general who directs Golden Dome warned last month the sprawling program was in peril because about 97 percent of this year’s $17.5 billion request relied on reconciliation funding. That fragility will be front and center: the Golden Dome director, Guetlein, is scheduled to appear on a conference panel titled "Defending the Homeland: Making Golden Dome a Reality" alongside Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command.
High-profile acquisition lines on the agenda: B-21, Sentinel, Collaborative Combat, F-47
Beyond MMA and Golden Dome, Air and Space Force leaders are expected to highlight progress and budget needs across several marquee modernization programs. The agenda includes updates on Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, accelerated production of the B-21 bomber, and demonstrations toward the future F-47 fighter jet. Service and industry leaders plan to showcase acquisition milestones while pressing for the capital to sustain long-term programs.
What this means for lawmakers, service leaders, and defense industry negotiators
- Lawmakers: Congress has already reduced reconciliation funding sharply (from $350 billion requested to $60 billion approved for Iran operations), making decisions about supplemental appropriations and reallocation central to whether programs like Golden Dome and MMA proceed on planned timetables.
- Service leaders (Air and Space Forces): Senior officials must reconcile operational demands from Operation Epic Fury—lost MQ-9s and supplemental funding needs—with longer-term modernization priorities. As Kelly Greico, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, put it: "what are actually the modernization priorities of this leadership team?"
- Defense industry and negotiators: Firms negotiating deals with the Department of Defense will watch Caine’s public push for a $1.5 trillion configuration and the conference outcomes closely; program funding sources (regular appropriations versus reconciliation) will directly affect contract timing and production ramps.
The Air, Space & Cyber conference will assemble the Joint Chiefs chair, the new Space Force leader, the NASA administrator and a range of service and industry voices at a moment of competing pressures: an unresolved Iran war driving near-term operational demands, and budgetary constraints forcing hard choices about which modernization lines to sustain. As Greico warned, the combined Air and Space Forces' budget "is, to me, is not sustainable," and the coming panel sessions will offer the clearest public test yet of how the services intend to reconcile readiness, replacement of combat losses, and long-term modernization. Attendees will be watching to see whether leaders move from describing needs to defining concrete priorities and timelines.
