- Cost and casualties: The 60-day war in Iran has cost the U.S. around $25 billion, with 13 American troops killed, Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
- Record Pentagon budget request: The Department of War proposed a $1.5 trillion 2027 budget, which is about 40% higher than 2026.
- Major investment in new tech: The budget includes $74 billion for drones and counter-drone systems, plus major spending on AI and quantum computing.
- Force expansion and pay raises: The proposal would add nearly 50,000 personnel and raise pay by 7% for lower-ranked troops.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to review the Pentagon’s 2027 budget request of $1.5 trillion.
Throughout the hearing, which became highly contentious at points, Hegseth provided an update on the war in Iran.
The conflict has cost the U.S. less than $25 billion in its 60 days, he said. Most of the price tag is due to munitions, as well as operations and management equipment.
It has claimed the lives of 13 American soldiers and has decimated much of Iran’s military capability. U.S. and Israeli strikes have also targeted key Iranian infrastructure, which have “financially devastated” the country, Hegseth said. “They’re at a place where they have very few options.”
U.S. efforts have destroyed three Iranian drone aircraft carriers, 11 submarines, multiple frigate classes and Iran’s conventional Navy, Hegseth reported. Iran’s command and control is “fundamentally broken as far as who is in control and how they communicate,” he added.
The hearing comes a week after the establishment of the Southcom Autonomous Warfare Command. This new unit is tasked with deploying drones, artificial intelligence and unmanned platforms across Latin America and the Caribbean.
What’s in the Pentagon’s proposed 2027 budget?
The $1.5 trillion budget request increases spending designed for modernization, shipbuilding and industrial base expansion, Hegseth said.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before the committee with Hegseth to defend the budget proposal on Wednesday.
Caine described the request — a roughly 40% increase from the budget approved for 2026 — as the means to keep pace with the rapidly changing, global weapons market.
“If the budget is approved and ultimately deployed, we look at the character of warfare changing very, very fast,” Caine said. “What’s layered into this budget by our civilian leaders will allow us to start getting ahead of where technology is evolving.”
Advancements in weapons globally “require a higher end of capital investment,” he said.
Rapid developments are occurring internationally in autonomous weapons, simultaneity, cyber hacking, in space and under water.
Outside large sums aimed at boosting American war tech, the budget includes pay increases for service members. Specifically, all troops ranked E-5 and below will receive a 7% pay increase, with those in higher ranks seeing an increase of at least 5%.
In 2026, the Department of War has seen a 30-year record in recruitment. The budget would grow the force by almost 50,000 personnel.
Drones and quantum computing
Several lawmakers referenced Ukraine’s ongoing defense against the Russian invasion, which has seen a major shift toward the use of autonomous weapons. As of early 2026, attack drones are responsible for up to 75% of all combat losses for both Russians and Ukrainians.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., referenced this development, then asked Hegseth how the 2027 budget will advance U.S. drone capabilities.
A focus on drones is “front and center in this budget,” Hegseth said. It’s technology the Pentagon hopes to “supercharg(e) in this budget.”
It includes $74 billion for drones, drone dominance and counter-UAS (counter-drone defenses).
Hegseth and Caine agreed that drones are a central feature of modern warfare, and where they are manufactured matters.
The budget also includes support for artificial intelligence and quantum research. Quantum research allows for exponential increases in computing power and virtually unhackable communication.
“The country that dominates in quantum will dominate the future in C2 (command and control), in comms, in every way that we fight,” Hegseth said. The 2027 budget proposal “makes the maximum investment possible” to research quantum computing in the U.S., “to make sure we have the ability to scale and out-compute adversaries that are racing for the same code.”
The hearing gets contentious
Criticisms of Hegseth and the Trump administration were levied throughout the hearing, leading to several tense exchanges.
Toward the beginning of the hearing, Hegseth said, “The biggest adversary we face at this point is the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of Congressional Democrats and some Republicans, two months into a conflict.”
He continued, “My generation understands how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan, how long we were in Vietnam.”
Later, Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., described the Pentagon’s recent decision to make flu shots voluntary as “reckless.”
Hegseth responded, “I think allowing well-informed Americans who serve our country to make a choice is not reckless.” He added that commanders will still have the final say in making the vaccination mandatory in particular circumstances.
Then Carbajal responded, “Mr. Hegseth, I stand by what I said last time you were here. You were incompetent then. You’re incompetent now. You are the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to incompetence.”
Sitting to his left, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., laughed.