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From fighters jets to space systems: Military sends lawmakers over $20B-worth of unfunded priorities

Date: July 8, 2025

Breaking Defense has obtained a series of the Pentagon's Unfunded Priority Lists, non-public documents that outline what the services and COCOMS would do with extra money.

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WASHINGTON — It’s much like the time every year when children the world over stamp envelopes for the North Pole and enclose their deepest desires for Santa Claus — only this happens in the spring or summer, deals in potentially billions of dollars-worth of weapons instead of toys and is legally mandated. That’s right, it’s Unfunded Priorities List (UPL) season.

Every year after the Pentagon presents its formal budget request to the Hill, each military service, as well as combatant commands, follows up with another document for lawmakers, this time outlining what they would do if Congress deigned to give them more money than initially requested — whether its reviving a seemingly stalled next-gen fighter program or tripling down on investments in drone warfare.


This year Breaking Defense obtained several UPLs recently sent to lawmakers. Here are some highlights from our reporting so far:


 
 
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