2026 National Defense Strategy
Key claim: Unclassified summary of the Department’s strategy: homeland defense first, deterring China in the Indo-Pacific, allied burden-sharing, and supercharging the defense industrial base.
Abstract
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UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION… 1 THE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT… 7 Homeland and Hemisphere …8 People’s Republic of China (PRC)… 9 Russia … 10 Iran … 11 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) … 12 The Simultaneity Problem and Implications for Allied Burden-Sharing … 13 STRATEGIC APPROACH… 15 Line of Effort 1: Defend the U.S. Homeland … 16 Line of Effort 2: Deter China in the Indo-Pacific Through Strength, Not Confrontation … 18 Line of Effort 3: Increase Burden-Sharing with U.S. Allies and Partners… 18 Line of Effort 4: Supercharge the U.S. Defense Industrial Base… 21 CONCLUSION… 23
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UNCLASSIFIED N AT I O N A L D E F E N S E S T R AT E G Y 1 UNCLASSIFIED INTRODUCTION UNCLASSIFIED 1 UNCLASS
Why this matters
Unclassified summary of the Department’s strategy: homeland defense first, deterring China in the Indo-Pacific, allied burden-sharing, and supercharging the defense industrial base.
Source
Cross-references (4)
| Relation | Item | Note |
|---|---|---|
| scorecard | 2026 National Defense Strategy — stated intents & trail | Sets direction — not an action. |
| implemented by | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 | The Department will reinvest in U.S. defense production—building capacity, empowering innovators, adopting AI, and clearing away outdated policies and regulations obstructing production. |
| implemented by | Securing America's Defense Supply Chains and Ensuring Domestic Acquisition of Critical Materials | The Department will reinvest in U.S. defense production—building capacity, empowering innovators, adopting AI, and clearing away outdated policies and regulations obstructing production. |
| implemented by | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 | The Department will leverage allied and partner defense production to meet U.S. requirements and to incentivize allies to increase defense spending and field additional forces quickly. |