By Guo Xiaobing
The US Department of War on April 21 released its defense budget for Fiscal Year 2027, totaling US$1.5 trillion. This represents a 42% year-on-year increase, the highest annual growth rate since World War II.
The budget reflects the Trump administration's "Peace Through Strength" doctrine, aimed at securing absolute military superiority and maintaining US hegemony. However, the massive budget has squeezed public welfare spending, sparking widespread controversy in the country.
The FY2027 defense budget is a comprehensive expansion focusing on three domains.
The first is rebuilding and expanding the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). This is the top priority of the defense budget, designed to address the shrinking production capacity and supply chain vulnerabilities of the US military industry. Over US$750 billion—roughly 52% of the total budget—is allocated to this sector for capability development and weapons procurement. It is learnt that missile procurement amounts to US$70.5 billion, a 188% year-on-year increase.
The second is enhancing dominance in critical combat domains. This includes developing the "Gold Dome" missile defense system, preserving border security, strengthening air combat capabilities, upgrading nuclear strengths, and maintaining cyberspace superiority. A total of US$74 billion is slated to enhance drone capabilities, triple the FY2026 level. The budget for the US Space Force (USSF) has nearly doubled to over US$71billion, while US$65.8 billion is planned for shipbuilding, the largest shipbuilding request since 1962.
The third is boosting war readiness and personnel welfare. The FY2027 defense budget allocates US$31.7 billion to war readiness, including ship operations, flight training, and exercises. The US military will expand by 44,000 personnel, accompanied by a 5%-7% pay raise for service members.
The FY2027 budget aligns with the 2025 National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy released earlier this year, embodying the "America First" and "Peace Through Strength" philosophies advocated by the Trump administration.
Firstly, it focuses on major-country competition, with China being the primary target. Even though the Trump administration avoids the term "major-country competition" in the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy, and no longer labels China as a "pacing challenge," the budget summary explicitly states that the priority for US armed forces is "defending the homeland" and "deterring China in the Indo-Pacific." Out of the budget, US$11.7 billion is earmarked for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), a US$1.7 billion increase from 2026. The money will be used to enhance US forces' presence, infrastructure, exercises, and ally cooperation in the so-called Indo-Pacific, aiming to reinforce its denial defense on the "First Island Chain" and interfere in the Taiwan question by force.
Secondly, it erodes strategic stability for absolute security. Although "strategic stability" has been brought up multiple times both in the National Defense Strategy and by senior military officers, it has been redefined away from its traditional meaning. The classic concept of "strategic stability" originated in the era of nuclear arms control between the US and the Soviet Union. It represented a kind of stability amid crisis and arms race on the basis of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), and it acknowledged the organic connection between strategic defense and strategic offense. The Trump administration, however, has given the term a broader and vaguer definition, and made it clear that the "Gold Dome" defense system is specifically targeted at China and Russia, which gravely threatens the balance between strategic defense and offense. The FY2027 defense budget will continue to invest heavily in the "Gold Dome" system, indicating Washington's determination to suppress other major countries with "unquestionable strength" and ensure its continued dominance.
Thirdly, it seeks to achieve both security and economic growth by investing in the defense industry. The Trump administration believed the US defense industry has long suffered from under-investment and must be rebuilt with a massive amount of money to lay the material foundation for long-term arms races and potential wars of attrition. Such investments will also revitalize US manufacturing, potentially creating 800,000 jobs.
The implementation of the US FY2027 defense budget will undoubtedly aggravate a global arms race and add new uncertainties to the already complex international security environment. It will squeeze funds for livelihood improvement, augment debt risks, and sharpen political polarization, posing new challenges to the Trump administration's governance capabilities.
History has repeatedly shown that seeking national security and international standing solely through military might and a hegemonic mindset is akin to "drinking poison to quench thirst." If the US doesn't adjust its strategic orientation in time and continues to drain its national resources, the so-called "absolute military superiority" and "hegemony" that it is so bent on preserving will only collapse faster.
(The author is director of the Center for Arms Control Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)
Editor's note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.