Overview
- An internal Defense Department review found RDT&E (research, development, test and evaluation) infrastructure is deteriorating, with many labs averaging more than 45 years old and showing safety, power, cooling and bandwidth shortfalls that block modern work.
- The report recommends Congress authorize a fenced research-infrastructure fund totaling just under $5 billion over five years, with a proposed first-year seed of $650 million rising to about $952 million in year five.
- It also asks Congress to raise the ‘minor MILCON’ project threshold from $9 million to $20 million to allow faster, lower-overhead lab repairs and small construction projects.
- The study was a 90-day review ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and led by Assistant Secretary for Science & Technology Joseph Jewell, with teams visiting roughly 30 facilities and an implementation plan now being developed without a published timeline.
- Because military construction money is spread across 13 separate congressional accounts totaling $19.7 billion for FY2026, the report’s first-year $650 million represents roughly 3 percent of current MILCON and will require lawmakers to change appropriation law and make funding trade-offs in the broader defense budget.