US National Defense Authorization Act of 2026 Focuses on Countering China

Commentary

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) places heavy emphasis on Indo-Pacific security, countering China, and providing funding for Taiwan’s defense, marking a shift in U.S. defense policy toward a stronger focus on the Chinese regime.

The Armed Services Committees of both chambers of Congress have advanced the NDAA. The Senate committee approved its version by a vote of 26–1 in July, while the House committee advanced its version with a vote of 55–2. Both bills now await floor votes before being reconciled in conference and sent to the president, a process that almost always concludes by year’s end.

The NDAA is the annual law that sets U.S. military policy and spending. For 64 consecutive years, it has been considered “must-pass” legislation, establishing funding levels, authorizing weapons programs, and directing defense priorities. The 2026 bill authorizes about $925 billion in national defense spending, including $878.7 billion for the Department of War (DOW, formerly the Department of Defense).

A major emphasis is on countering China. The Act provides $1 billion for Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, directs cooperation on unmanned systems, and fully funds the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. These measures come as the United States faces what some lawmakers consider the most dangerous threat environment since World War II, with an axis of aggressors comprising China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The focus on China and Taiwan reflects a broader shift away from counterterrorism and toward preparing for great power competition in the Indo-Pacific.

In a section titled “Deterring China,” the NDAA builds on President Donald Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda. It extends the U.S. military posture in the Pacific, funds advanced technologies such as hypersonics, artificial intelligence, cyber, and autonomous systems, and directs the DOW to reduce reliance on China for critical technologies, optical components, and rare earths. It strengthens supply chain security, bans the purchase of Chinese-made solar panels, computers, printers, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems, and prohibits Chinese-controlled businesses from operating on U.S. military bases.

The NDAA further bolsters Taiwan’s defense by funding the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, authorizing training of Taiwanese and partner forces, and requiring DOW to provide recommendations to counter Chinese “gray zone” coercion. It expands joint exercises with allies such as Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, and directs DOW to develop new strategies for basing, intelligence sharing, and pilot training.

To counter Chinese influence globally, it funds information operations for Indo-Pacific allies and requires DOW to assess Chinese expansion in Africa and the pursuit of bases threatening U.S. positions in the Atlantic.

In the section titled “Strategic Deterrence, Missile Defense, and National Defense Space Capabilities,” the NDAA accelerates Space Force acquisition of advanced platforms, establishes the Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT) program for tactical surveillance, and authorizes the use of commercial satellite services to support combatant commands. These measures are crucial to countering China’s attempts to dominate space.

As Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, warned at the South American Defense Conference in Buenos Aires on Aug. 20, China and Russia are “fielding a wide range of related weapons from reversible, nonkinetic systems like satellite communications jamming, GPS jamming and cyberattacks to direct ascent antisatellite missiles and co-orbital antisatellite weapons, putting friendly satellites at risk.”

In response to China’s nuclear expansion and the modernization and increased prominence of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, the NDAA supports Trump’s Golden Dome for America initiative. It updates missile defense policy and funds systems such as THAAD, SM3-IIA, and Patriot. The NDAA also strengthens nuclear deterrence by fully funding modernization of the triad, including Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile, and a third Columbia-class submarine. It prohibits reducing the ICBM fleet below 400 and creates a Rapid Capabilities Program within the National Nuclear Security Administration to upgrade infrastructure dating back to the Manhattan Project.

Finally, the NDAA emphasizes innovation and technology as central to future warfighting, prioritizing the rapid deployment of drones, autonomous platforms, and next-generation weapons to maintain overmatch against China. This includes not only developing more advanced systems than China but also safeguarding U.S. technology from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

During a Krach Institute Address on China Tech Competition in July, House Select Committee on the CCP Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) declared, “We will not allow China to use American chips to build the arsenal of authoritarianism.”

This shift comes as Congress warns that the window to deter a war with the Chinese regime may be closing. At a recent hearing, Moolenaar stressed that CCP leader Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take Taiwan by force by 2027, backed by the largest military buildup since World War II. Moolenaar cautioned that the current Congress may be the last full legislative session with a chance to alter Xi’s calculus.

Military leaders echoed the urgency. Gen. Charles Flynn testified that a Chinese invasion threat is no longer theoretical and argued for strengthening land power across the first and second island chains with allies such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Australia. Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery warned that America’s ability to defeat a Chinese attack is eroding after decades of Beijing’s military investment, citing both an outright invasion and cyber-enabled economic warfare as likely scenarios.

The committee recommended increased U.S. and Taiwanese defense spending to meet these challenges. The 2026 NDAA delivers on that priority, possibly just in time.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.