New US Navy budget wants $3B for new Tomahawks, $4.3B for SM-6s

The latest Pentagon budget request calls for massive purchase increases of two key missiles the US Navy has relied on for the US-Israeli war with Iran and the US conflict with the Houthis in the Red Sea, Report informs via the US Naval Institute News.

Specifically, the new Fiscal Year 2027 budget is seeking a 1,200 percent increase in the number of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and a 225 percent increase in Standard Missile 6s over what Congress appropriated money for in Fiscal Year 2026.

The funding is split between a traditional budget request and reconciliation funding. Both of those weapons are primary munitions for the guided-missile destroyers that have been the backbone of the US Navy's current war effort in the Middle East.

The US Navy is asking Congress for 785 additional Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles for $3 billion, a more than 1,200 percent increase from the 55 TLAMs Congress funded for $258 million in FY 2026, according to Pentagon budget documents released on Friday. Likewise, the Navy is asking for 540 SM-6s for $4.33 billion, up from 166 SM-6s for $1.41 billion in 2026. The Navy is also asking for 494 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles at $804 million – a major 370 percent increase over 2026 – and 141 MK-48 heavyweight torpedoes for $571 million.

The majority of the Tomahawk and SM-6s would be part of a second federal funding reconciliation bill that could allow the Navy to spread the procurement out over several years. This is the second consecutive budget cycle the Trump administration is turning to reconciliation to supplement its annual budget request, splitting funding and procurement quantities across the two legislative vehicles.

Tomahawks are precision missiles with a range of more than 1,000 nautical miles. The missiles have been fielded from the MK-41 vertical launch systems on Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers, nuclear attack submarines and Ohio-class guided-missile submarines.

SM-6s are multi-use missiles that can attack air, drone and cruise missiles. The munitions have been the primary defensive weapons of the Navy's destroyer fleet.

The munitions request comes amid concerns over the recent US expenditure of these weapons in the Middle East conflict and how the decreased capacity could leave the military less equipped to counter China in the Pacific. Both the SM-6s and Tomahwaks are some of the most expensive and difficult to build munitions in the Pentagon's arsenal.