Airmen from the 4th Fighter Generation Squadron at Hill Air Force Base climb into a C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 41st Airlift Squadron in Arkansas to participate in an exercise at Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California, on Aug. 7. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act calls for an increase of $150 billion in defense spending. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Zachary Rufus)
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act could indeed be beautiful for Utah’s military sector and for companies in the aerospace and defense industry.
The act includes $150 billion in new defense spending, according to speakers during a recent webinar hosted by law firm Holland & Knight and the 47B Utah aerospace and defense industry association. The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have committed to a $1 trillion military top line for fiscal 2026, said Daniel Sennott, a partner at the law firm.
“Clearly, a lot of opportunity, particularly in the defense space, given the amount of money that’s at play here,” said Sennott, based in Washington, D.C.
Currently, the U.S. spends about 3 percent of its GDP on defense, but the administration wants it closer to 5 percent by the end of its current term. That would push the overall figure to $1.4 trillion, up from the current $895 billion. “There is a lot of room to grow there,” Sennott said.
And the benefits likely won’t be just for existing military contractors. The bill includes $16 billion to expedite innovation for the warfighter.
“There’s a lot of excitement about, as an example, Silicon Valley now working with the Department of Defense on emerging technology that can be leveraged for the military,” Sennott said. “Gone are the days, I think, of these acquisition programs that run for 10 years before the actual technology gets out to the warfighter, because in this era, that technology will probably be obsolete if we are spending five or 10 years in an acquisition process for it.”
Webinar speakers broke the $150 billion into several “buckets,” many of which could benefit Hill Air Force Base and other Utah installations and its private-sector partners. Among them are $9 billion for air superiority, including updating the fighter force and providing next-generation aircraft development; $15 billion for nuclear deterrence modernization; and $25 billion for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system. That $25 billion “really is just a down payment,” Sennott said. “That program overall is probably going to be in the hundreds of billions by the time that it’s done.”
Misha Lehrer, Holland & Knight senior public affairs advisor also based in Washington, spelled out other Utah
impacts of the OBBBA:
• Modernization of strategic forces, tied to work done at Hill, where some units support ICBM sustainment and modernization programs. “That means expanded opportunities in the industrial base involved in things like missile maintenance and advanced materials and system integration,” Lehrer said.
• Supply chain improvements, pertinent to manufacturing and technology. The bill includes incentives for domestic sourcing, advanced manufacturing and reducing the reliance on foreign suppliers in order to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base. That likely will range from precision components to cybersecurity solutions to ensure Department of Defense readiness and provide more opportunities for Utah-based suppliers and tech firms.
• Industrial base expansion, in the form of growing and modernizing both physical and human infrastructure. Grants will be made available to upgrade facilities, invest in research and development, and expand workforce training. Lehrer described it as fostering “more opportunities to create an enduring pipeline of talent and industrial expansion in the state.”
• Small-business innovation and grants, particularly for the “vibrant community of small and mid-sized defense contractors” that focus on emerging technologies and rapid prototyping. The bill boosts funding for small-business programs for nontraditional contractors “to facilitate additional small businesses into the DoD ecosystem.”
Sennott said the OBBBA money is available for four years, but the Trump administration wants to get the money out within the next 18 months. He foresees a rapid deployment of funding, likely before the congressional mid-term elections.
Utah’s military and defense industry directly and indirectly supports over 173,000 jobs and contributed an estimated $22.2 billion in GDP in 2023, according to a report released in January by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. The defense industry that fiscal year directly provided 49,540 military and civilian jobs, and defense contracts totaled $5.9 billion. Ten contractors accounted for $5.2 billion of that total.