The Army is seeking $197.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 to transform the force for the future.

Unveiled on June 26, the budget request includes $5.4 billion that’s part of a separate spending bill being considered in Congress, as well as a 3.8% military pay raise.

“Our Army must transform now to a leaner, more lethal force by infusing technology, cutting obsolete systems and reducing overhead to defeat any adversary,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll says in an Army budget document.

The Army’s request, part of a $961.6 billion DoD budget request, is a 6.9% increase from the budget enacted for fiscal 2025, which ends Sept. 30. It centers on the sweeping Army Transformation Initiative, which includes big changes in force structure, weaponry, platforms and acquisition processes.

“The Army Transformation Initiative … is a strategic shift,” said a senior Army official who briefed reporters on the budget request. The Army is “reinvesting resources to ensure our future dominance as part of the joint force,” the official said. “We made some tough choices to shed outdated systems and programs that no longer meet our demands of the modern battlefield.”

In fiscal 2026, the Army is seeking $76.6 billion in military personnel funding—a 7.7% increase—to cover the 3.8% pay raise, junior enlisted pay reform (a 10% pay boost) and an end strength increase of almost 11,000 soldiers.

The request projects an active Army troop strength of 454,000. The Army was authorized 442,300 in fiscal 2025 but expects to finish the year at 452,000, according to budget documents. It also projects an Army National Guard strength of 328,000, up from the 325,000 authorized in fiscal 2025, and an Army Reserve strength of 172,000, down from the 175,800 authorized in fiscal 2025.

This would bring the total Army troop strength to 954,000 soldiers.

The Army’s fiscal 2026 request includes $73.4 billion for operations and maintenance, including barracks sustainment and modernization, the Army Transformation Initiative and Holistic Health and Fitness expansion. That’s a 6.4% increase from the totals enacted in fiscal 2025.

The Army also is requesting $43.6 billion for procurement and research, development, testing and evaluation.

Key efforts include divesting old equipment or ineffective programs, such as the Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle, the M10 Booker and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, and merging key Army command headquarters, including merging Army Futures Command with Army Training and Doctrine Command, as well as Army Forces Command and Army South and Army North.

The Army also will invest about $8.9 billion in warfighting capabilities, including five brigade combat teams’ worth of loitering munitions, converting seven infantry brigade combat teams into mobile brigade combat teams, modernizing unmanned aerial systems and updating seven organic industrial base facilities.

The Army also expects to spend $2.4 billion on barracks sustainment, restoration and modernization, $411 million on barracks construction and $82 million on child development centers.