Rounds Secures National Defense Victories in Senate Armed Services Committee’s Fiscal Year 2027 NDAA

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, released the following statement on the committee's passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2027. The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

"The NDAA is the hallmark piece of legislation that the Armed Services Committee works on each year, and it's always an honor to have a role in crafting it at the committee level," said Rounds. "This is the 12th NDAA I've had the opportunity to work on as a member of the Armed Services committee. I was glad to have several wins for South Dakota in the committee version of this legislation, including $43.7 million for military construction projects for the South Dakota National Guard in Sioux Falls and Sturgis. Our committee version of the bill fully authorizes the B-21 Raider program to be housed at Ellsworth, with $3.23 billion for procurement and another $4.25 billion in ongoing research and development for the platform. As Chair of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, I am also very pleased with the cyber provisions included to strengthen our nation's offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, as well as ongoing efforts to accelerate AI adoption.

In an increasingly dangerous world, a consensus on defense spending is more important than ever. I firmly believe that this year's NDAA takes great strides to secure our nation and put us in a position to fight away games rather than on our own soil. I look forward to working with the rest of my Senate colleagues and the House to get the NDAA passed and signed into law."

Rounds was named as the 6th most effective member of the United States Senate on defense and national security issues for the 118th Congress. Read a full list of his provisions in this year's NDAA below.

Rounds' South Dakota Victories:

• Fully authorizes the B-21 Raider program, including over $3.23 billion for total procurement ($2.23 billion for procurement and $1 billion in advanced procurement), and an additional $4.25 billion in research and development.
• Authorizes $146.8 million for B-1B Lancer.
• Authorizes $40 million for an Aircraft Maintenance Hangar for the South Dakota Air National Guard's 114^th Fighter Wing in Sioux Falls.
• Authorizes $3.7 million for a Vehicle Maintenance Shop for the South Dakota Army National Guard in Sturgis.
• Authorizes $10 million for Cold Regions Advanced Materials and Manufacturing research being done at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
• Authorizes $10 million for Large Area Additive Deposition work being done on large area additive manufacturing by VRC Metal Systems and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota.
• Authorizes $5 million for Innovate High Energy Density Sodium Battery research being done by South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
• Authorizes $30 million for the University Consortium for Cybersecurity including Dakota State University.
• Requires the Army and the Air Force to provide the congressional defense committees a briefing on the resources needed for environmental restoration activities on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and encourages the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Air Force, and Army Corps of engineers to conduct government-to-government consultation with the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
• Requires with the Under Secretary for Research & Engineering, Under Secretary for Acquisition & Sustainment, and the geographic combatant commands to develop a comprehensive strategy for cost-effective, attritable high-altitude systems, including cross-Department coordination of investments and what policy, budgetary, and industrial base changes are needed to accelerate adoption at speed and scale.
• Requires the Secretary of the Air Force and the commander of U.S. Strategic Command to reevaluation the B-21 Raider program of record and provide an assessment of the number of B-21 aircraft necessary to meet the nuclear and conventional mission requirements in the FY26 National Defense Strategy. They must also provide a plan for producing the necessary number of aircraft. (It is likely that many of the aircraft purchased beyond the initially planned 100 B-21s will make their way to Ellsworth.)
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide the full report and unredacted materials used in the review of the Medals of Honor provided to soldiers for their conduct at Wounded Knee Creek in December 1890.
• Authorizes $50 million for small businesses and non-traditional contractors to cover their Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification costs (to meet the Department's cybersecurity standards).

Rounds' Major National Defense Victories:

• Creates an Under Secretary of Defense for Cyber, Information, and Networks, merging the Department's Chief Information Officer and the Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of Defense into a single dual-hat individual.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a joint program with Germany for co-development and co-production of air defense and air-to-air munitions to increase the defense industrial base capacity of both countries.
• Directs the Department to develop a strategy and resource plan to enhance U.S. cyber cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies and partners
• Requires AI models being used by the Department of Defense to provide source attribution, helping prevent dissemination of foreign adversary propaganda.
• Provides resources to the National Guard and Reserve cyber components who are participating in ongoing cyber military operations.
• Requires the Department to mandate effective software acquisition pathway for all software purchases to support more flexible appropriations options for software activities to speed up software acquisition and development activities.
• Requires the Department to provide an update on the development of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing capabilities to facilitate better use of the spectrum by both the military and commercial interests.
• Authorizes $1 million to strengthen cooperation between U.S. Cyber Command and the Kingdom of Jordan.
• Directs Department of Defense Cyber Defense Command to submit annual reports to Congress on their Cyber Operational Readiness Assessment program, which is critical to securing the Department's networks.
• Directs the Chief Information Officer of the Department to reduce administrative burden of the Department's risk management framework, making it easier for cyber, AI, and software companies to work with the military.
• Establishes artificial intelligence governance rules for the Department and our miliary to make sure autonomous weapon systems and AI tools require human judgment when appropriate, without slowing down our warfighters and industry partners from developing and utilizing cutting edge technologies.
• Directs an independent study on the roles, responsibilities, authorities, and resourcing of the Principal Cyber Advisors of the military departments.
• Directs a plan to remove unnecessary bureaucratic procedures and regulations related to the AUKUS partnerships between the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom so our defense industrial bases are better able to work together.
• Requires the Department to develop a plan for a public-private partnership to train individuals at the scale required for modern drone warfare.
• Requires an Army report on potential Army National Guard drone units.
• Requires an Army report on a potential Army National Guard Drone Center of Excellence.

Rounds-Supported Victories:

• Authorizes funding to support a 3.6 percent pay raise for military members.
• Encourages the Department to establish a Robotic and Autonomous Systems Combatant Command.
• Requires acceleration of the adoption and purchase of low-cost munitions.
• Authorizes the establishment and continued operation of Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel to coordinate and bolster the counter-cartel mission and defending the southwest border.
• Establishes the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, coordination, and industrial cooperation between the U.S. and Israel.
• Codifies the Department review process for autonomous weapon systems and AI capabilities, specifying standards for human judgment, validation and testing requirements, prohibited uses, and a centralized incident reporting repository.
• Establishes comprehensive prohibitions against betting on military operations in prediction markets.
• Requires the Department to accept the Classic Learning Test at military service academies.

Click HERE to read an executive summary from the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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