Kelly-Shaped Defense Bill Set to Become Law, Securing Major Wins for Arizona, Servicemembers, and National Security

Bill blocks staffing cuts to Fort Huachuca's Electronic Proving Ground and protects Arizona's role in electronic warfare

Delivers major Arizona military construction projects at Davis-Monthan, Luke Air Force Base, and MCAS Yuma

Includes a 3.8 percent pay raise for military service members

Today, Senate Armed Services Committee member and 25-year Navy combat veteran Mark Kelly announced final passage of the annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2026. Through his leadership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly secured major priorities to strengthen Arizona's military installations, support servicemembers and their families, and advance U.S. national security. The final bill includes Kelly-backed provisions to block staffing cuts to Fort Huachuca's Electronic Proving Ground, continue upgrades at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and expand Arizona's role in military modernization and emerging defense technologies. The bill now heads to the President's desk to be signed into law.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland and Co-Chair of the Defense Modernization Caucus, Kelly helped shape the portions of the NDAA dealing with Army, Air Force, National Guard, and Reserve programs, procurement, research, and development. The final bill also strengthens U.S. deterrence in Europe and the Indo-Pacific and reinforces congressional oversight of Pentagon decisions affecting readiness and force structure.

"After months of bipartisan negotiation, this defense bill makes the kind of smart, targeted investments our military needs to stay ready today while preparing for future threats," said Senator Kelly. "It strengthens deterrence against Russia, China and our adversaries, supports Ukraine's self-defense, and modernizes the capabilities our servicemembers rely on to do their jobs safely and effectively."

Kelly continued, "I also worked to keep Arizona at the center of our national defense. Fort Huachuca plays a national role, not just a local one, and protecting its mission is critical as electronic warfare becomes a bigger part of modern conflict. From defending the Electronic Proving Ground andupgrading Davis-Monthan tosupporting missions across the state, these investments matter for Arizona and our national security."

See below for a breakdown of priorities Kelly secured:

Arizona Priorities Requested and Secured by Kelly:

Luke Air Force Base

• $45 million to construct a much-needed new child development center for servicemembers and their families on base. This follows planning and design funds secured by Senator Kelly in the past two defense bills.
• Urges the Air Force to prioritize funding to replace outdated HVAC systems at Luke Air Force Base, improving facility reliability and ensuring a safe, functional working environment for airmen.

MCAS Yuma

• $26.1 million to design a replacement for the aging water treatment plant on base that the Marine Corps has indicated poses the potential for increased health risks to servicemembers and their families. Kelly has worked over the past few years to advance and secure funding for the new water treatment plant.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

• Requires the Air Force to update Congress and provide oversight on the transition of the new power projection wing to DM AFB.
• $49 million to construct a new Communications Squadron headquarters facility, which is necessary to support the transition of new flying missions to the base.
• $50 million to construct a new hangar and maintenance facility to support the new mission coming to DM AFB.

Fort Huachuca

• Requires a demonstration of a joint multi-domain testing and training environment by interconnecting existing ranges and sites in the western states.

Yuma Proving Ground

• Directs the Secretary of the Army to plan replacements or repairs for Pole Line Road, an interior test road on the base that is in disrepair and causing delays to testing.

Arizona National Guard

• Authorizes the Air Force to retain KC-135 Stratotankers as they are replaced by KC-46 aircraft and reassign them based on the availability of an air refueling wing to man additional aircraft and support pilot training requirements. Doing so will expand the Air Force's ability to meet air refueling requirements. The 161st Air Refueling Wing in Phoenix flies KC-135 Stratotankers.
• Authorizes the Air National Guard to acquire land in order to build a new entry gate at Morris Air National Guard Base as planned. This new entry gate will improve security and traffic for the base and local community.
• Urges replacement for Camp Navajo installation's entry bridge that is 80 years old. This language follows a DoD assessment that Senator Kelly secured in a previous defense bill.

McCain Irregular Warfare Center - Center of Excellence

• Authorizes $6 million for the McCain Irregular Warfare Center of Excellence, which was established by Kelly. In October 2024, DoD awarded a contract to Arizona State University to lead this national consortium supporting the Center.

Southwest Border Oversight and Cooperation

• At Kelly's request, requires a semiannual report from the DoD on the Defense posture at the Southwest border that will allow Congress to oversee the mission and understand its impacts on readiness.
• Supports increased cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican militaries through a joint counter-transnational criminal organization training program that will share best practices in tactics, techniques, and procedures for countering narcotics trafficking.

Electronic Warfare Test and Evaluation

For months, Kelly has been pressing the Army over concerns with how plans to cut staff at Ft. Huachuca's Electronic Proving Ground (EPG) and other Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) sites could weaken our electronic warfare (EW) testing and readiness. The EPG serves as the U.S. Army's primary testing facility for electronic warfare systems. The facility is uniquely situated in a natural geographic bowl surrounded by mountains and enjoys over 320 clear flying days per year in protected federal airspace-conditions that make it ideal for high-powered jamming and advanced EW testing without external interference.

Kelly secured a provision in the defense bill that stops the Army from making these cuts without first reporting to the congressional defense committees on the basis for the cuts, findings from an independent review by the Director of the Office of Cost and Assessment and Program Evaluation, and a certification by the Director of the Test Resource Management Center that the analyses and decision meet Department of Defense's requirement.

The final NDAA also includes the following Kelly bills:

• FALCON Act: Requires the Secretary of the Air Force to incorporate depot-level maintenance coordination into at least one multinational exercise in the Indo-Pacific, strengthening readiness, interoperability with allies, and sustainment planning for real-world operations.
• ROTOR Act: Directs a study on cancer rates and mortality among military rotary-wing pilots and aviation support personnel to better understand and address long-term health risks.
• Strategic Ports Reporting Act: Directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to monitor efforts by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to build, buy, or own strategic ports around the world.
• The Mexico Security Assistance Accountability Act: Requires the State Department to develop a comprehensive strategy to dismantle Mexican drug cartels and ensure U.S. security assistance delivers on our shared security mission and enhance resilient institutional capacity to strengthen the rule of law and address public corruption in order to combat the cartels.
• The SEIZE Act: Authorizes the use of Presidential Drawdown Authority to transfer confiscated Iranian weapons seized in transit to terror proxies like the Houthis in Yemen directly to U.S. partners. The SEIZE Act would bypass a potentially year-long legal process for distributing captured Iranian weapons and equipment held by U.S. CENTCOM. Right now, CENTCOM spends taxpayer money to store, safeguard, and transfer this seized equipment; the SEIZE Act would allow those weapons to be sent quickly and directly to trusted U.S. military partners around the globe.
• Kelly-secured provision that builds on his No Work with Adversaries Act, requiring a briefing on the implementation of notification requirements to keep former service members and government employees from working for our enemies.
• The COUNTER Act: Strengthens protections for U.S. military bases and critical facilities from drone incursions.
• Authorizes a Medal of Honor to be awarded to Navy veteran E. Royce Williams for extraordinary acts of valor during the Korean War.
• Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act: Requires the Secretary of State to establish a private, internal national registry of the names and other relevant information of Korean American divided families for the purpose of future family reunions.

Kelly Airland Subcommittee Priorities

The following priorities were secured by Senator Kelly on the Airland Subcommittee to ensure our military readiness and force modernization:

• Authorizes 34 new F-35A's for the Air Force. Luke AFB is a training base for F-35 pilots.
• Authorizes the procurement of 3 additional AH-64E Apache BlockIIIA Remanufactured Aircraft.
• Requires a report on the rationale for the Army's aviation force structure decision and plans for the AH-64, which is manufactured in Mesa.
• Authorizes an additional $90M in RDT&E funding for the Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Combat Ready Airman (CRA) Flight Demonstrator.
• Authorizes an additional $60 million to support procurement of the Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft, based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
• Requires a roadmap for Air Force bombers and accounts for advancing the B-21 to manufacturing and production.
• With Kelly's support, prohibits the Air Force from retiring A-10 aircraft ahead of schedule such that the inventory would drop below 103 aircraft next year.
• Requires a briefing on Army efforts to optimize its prepositioned stocks program to ensure that the Army has the right equipment in the right location with the right readiness level.
• Requires a briefing on the Army's proposed plan to integrate Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command.
• Requires a plan from the Air Force on the future of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets.
• Supports procurement of the MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopter to modernize the aging fleet of UH-1 helicopters.
• Requires a briefing on efforts to enhance space domain awareness through ground-based sensor development.

Defense Modernization

Kelly is the co-chair of the Defense Modernization Caucus, which is focused on strengthening national security by integrating and adopting emergent technologies and ensuring the U.S. military is equipped with the most advanced tools and strategies to counter rising threats.

• Requires a briefing and follow-up report to assess how the Department of Defense is reducing risks in the defense industrial base and implementing the National Defense Industrial Strategy, ensuring the Pentagon is strengthening supply chains and industrial capacity needed to support national security.
• Requires DoD to establish a Small-UAS Industrial Base Working Group and develop a roadmap for the small, unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industrial base to support existing sUAS programs.
• Requires an evaluation of the suitability of a corridor for testing hypersonic and long-range weapons in the continental United States.
• Provides the combatant commands the authority to conduct experimentation, prototyping, and technology demonstrations to support the development and testing of innovative technologies and capability solutions to address operational needs identified by the combatant command.
• Requires the Department to integrate electronic warfare into Tier 1 and Tier 2 joint exercises.
• Establishes an alternative pathway for the test and evaluation (T&E) of software acquisition programs using the software acquisition pathway, and other programs designated by the Secretary of Defense.

Recruitment

• Includes a Kelly-led bill to strengthen military recruitment by expanding access for military recruiters to high schools and improving outreach to ensure students have clear, accurate information about opportunities for military service.

Program Oversight and Assessment

• Requires a Kelly-requested GAO report to assess the effectiveness of middle tier rapid prototyping authority for the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N) program. Over the past few years, Kelly has raised concerns with military leadership about the tradeoffs of installing this new nuclear weapon on conventional Virginia Class attack submarines.
• Requires a spend plan and briefing on advanced manufacturing practices and advanced materials and processing practices for hypersonic flight bodies that will shorten the time for delivery.

Security Cooperation and Supporting American Alliances

• Includes Kelly-backed provisions to prohibit drawdown of U.S. military troops on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe to deter adversaries like Russia and North Korea and support our allies in the region.
• Requires oversight of U.S. military posture on the Korean Peninsula by maintaining a total troop level of 28,500 and requiring a report if that number changes.
• Provides oversight of U.S. military posture in Europe by maintaining a total troop level of 76,000 and requiring a report if that number changes.
• Extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) through 2029 and increases authorized funding to $400 million for FY26 and FY27.
• Authorizes $1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative and expands the authority to include a provision broadening its scope to support combat casualty care and medical equipment.
• Formally established and authorizes $175 million for the Baltic Security Initiative to strengthen the defensive capability and interoperability of the Baltic States.

Support for Servicemembers and military families

• Includes a 3.8 percent pay raise for military service members.
• Requires a briefing on the implementation of Kelly's Brandon Act across active duty and reserve component troops. The briefing must include a description and timeline of any communications or efforts made to implement the annual training. It also establishes a biannual reporting requirement on implementation progress, training effectiveness, and adherences to the Brandon Act.
• Authorizes $50 million in Impact Aid funding for educational agencies serving military dependent students and $20 million in Impact Aid for educational agencies serving children with disabilities.
• Requires a Kelly-backed update to the Committee on existing Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) regulations on the student use of portable electronic mobile devices in DODEA schools to prohibit disruption in the learning environment.
• Requires a report on expanding access to non-addictive alternatives to opioids, including steps the Department of Defense will take to ensure safer pain-management options are available through TRICARE.
• Requires a report on efforts to improve recruitment and retention of merchant mariners in the Military Sealift Command, strengthening the workforce that supports global military operations.
• Requires a study to improve how the Basic Allowance for Housing is calculated to better reflect rising rental costs, along with a report assessing the locality pay system for Department of Defense civilian employees.

See how Arizona and defense leaders are reacting to Kelly's work on the NDAA below:

"The Huachuca 50 is pleased with the final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act and applauds the strong protections it includes for Fort Huachuca and the Electronic Proving Ground. By requiring transparency and independent review, this legislation recognizes the critical role Fort Huachuca plays in electronic warfare testing, joint operations, and military readiness. We commend Senator Kelly for his leadership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and for his continued advocacy to ensure Fort Huachuca is a vital national security asset," said Dr. Randy Groth, Huachuca 50 President.

"The Yuma 50 appreciates Senator Kelly's work in the National Defense Authorization Act and the critical infrastructure investments it makes to address long-standing challenges at MCAS Yuma and Yuma Proving Ground. By advancing the design of a new water treatment facility and requiring a closer look at needed repairs and replacements to Pole Line Road, this bill reflects Senator Kelly's commitment to listening to the Yuma community and delivering practical solutions that strengthen readiness and quality of life," said Julie Engel, Chair of Yuma 50.

"I wish to express our gratitude to Senator Mark Kelly and the Arizona Delegation for their efforts on behalf of Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in securing $22 million for a Child Development Center in the FY26 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. These funds will enable the United States Air Force to address this critical family readiness need. We also applaud the Arizona Delegation for addressing working conditions for airmen at Luke AFB, highlighting the need for the Air Force to fund improvements to aging environmental control systems at the Base. As Chair of Luke West Valley Council for Luke AFB, we are thankful for the commitment and achievements secured in this year's Defense funding bills," said Alexis Hermosillo, Mayor of City of El Mirage.

"DM50 is grateful for Senator Kelly's leadership in securing key NDAA provisions that directly support Davis-Monthan's evolving mission. From oversight of the new Special Ops Wing to major investments in infrastructure and Compass Call, these wins position the base for long-term success," said Linda Morales and Ben Fernandez, President of DM50.