US-Israeli cooperation in the field of the latest military technologies

The United States House of Representatives adopted a bill in the middle of last week that not only pushes the US military budget to an unprecedented level of $ 1.15 trillion, but also prepares a much deeper integration of the US and Israeli defense industries, technologies and supply chains. Beyond the $ 750 million allocated to joint military programs, the real stakes lie in Section 219 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027: the establishment of a permanent mechanism through which the research, production, testing and use of new combat technologies will be coordinated between the Pentagon and the Israeli state.

Passed by 216 votes to 212, despite near-solid Democratic opposition and a small Republican revolt, the bill shifts the U.S.-Israeli military relationship from one of financial support and arms transfers to one of building a shared infrastructure for 21st-century warfare. According to the vote, six Democrats supported the bill and seven Republicans voted against it. The Times of Israel and Al Jazeera presented the passage of the law from radically different perspectives, but identified the same essential change: Washington is no longer just funding Israel's military capability, but is beginning to merge its own technological and industrial defense ecosystem with Israel's.

The text adopted by the House of Representatives Congressmen reserves $750 million for joint US-Israeli military projects: $500 million for missile defense, $100 million for countering drones and other unmanned systems, $100 million for underground operations and technologies, and $50 million for cooperation in emerging technologies. At the same time, the authority for US reserve stocks located in Israel is extended until January 1, 2029.

These figures are important, but they represent only the visible financial layer of a broader strategic transformation. The $750 million is not designed as a simple annual aid package, but as a fuel for a network of programs through which laboratories, companies, universities and military structures of the two states will be able to research, produce, test and introduce the same technologies.

• The two countries' military programs will be synchronized

The centerpiece of this construction is the "United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” provided for in Section 219 of the said legislative act. The US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, will designate an executive agent charged with synchronizing cooperative efforts between the US and Israel, with the stated goal of expanding and accelerating research, development, testing, evaluation, and integration of military technologies, as well as bilateral industrial cooperation. The formula chosen by the congressmen goes far beyond the usual language of a one-time funding agreement. "Synchronization” means that the programs will not only be compatible upon completion, but will be able to be designed from the beginning to meet the needs of both militaries and to enter both Israeli systems and the official Pentagon acquisition programs.

The executive agent will have to identify jointly developed or Israeli-origin technologies that have operational utility and that can be integrated into US military systems. The provision explicitly opens the Pentagon's doors to Israeli innovation, transforming Israel's experience in Middle Eastern conflicts into a source of technology for U.S. forces. At the same time, the initiative aims to quickly move projects from the lab to contracts, acquisitions, production, and use on the battlefield. It's not just about academic exchanges or experimental prototypes, but also about building an industrial pipeline through which bilaterally developed technology can reach endowment programs and actually deployed systems. The bill calls for the creation of frameworks for joint ventures, licensing agreements, co-production in the United States, and manufacturing partnerships with Israeli industry. In this way, the military alliance gains an economic and industrial base that will be difficult to dismantle later: companies from the two countries will be able to share licenses, technologies, production capacities, and government contracts, and supply chains will become increasingly interdependent. Supporters of the measure see it as a way to combine the financial and industrial power of the United States with the speed of innovation and operational experience of Israel. Critics, however, note that Washington risks tying its technological autonomy, foreign policy options, and even the security of its military supplies to the decisions of a state constantly involved in Middle Eastern conflicts.

The list of areas targeted shows the scope of the project. Cooperation will include systems for countering aerial, maritime, and land-based drones; technologies against tunnels, bunkers, and other underground targets; air and missile defense; artificial intelligence; quantum technologies; machine learning; autonomous systems; directed energy weapons; advanced sensors; cyber defense; electronic warfare; and digital resilience. The initiative also extends to biotechnology, biomanufacturing, medical defense, network integration, data fusion, and logistics in contested environments. A separate chapter deals with cooperation between defense industrial bases, production and co-production, and an open wording allows for the addition of any other emerging technologies that Washington and Jerusalem agree on.

The Pentagon is to coordinate the initiative through structures that include the Defense Innovation Unit, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the United States Space Command, the various branches of the armed forces, and the US-Israel Working Group on Operational Technology. In other words, cooperation will not be isolated in a secondary office, but will be connected to some of the most important American centers for advanced military research, missile defense, innovation and space operations. The document also calls for the organization of joint exercises and the establishment of information exchange mechanisms to prepare for the deployment of technologies developed bilaterally. Joint projects are thus to be tested not only in polygons, but also through joint operational training, so that troops can actually use them.

• Executive Agent, designated within 6 months of enactment

Section 219 also introduces reporting requirements. No later than 180 days after the law enters into force, the Secretary of Defense must inform the Congressional defense committees about the designated executive agent, the status of coordination with Israel, the technology areas selected for accelerated cooperation, and the first prototyping or integration activities. Thereafter, through 2030, the Pentagon will submit annual reports on technologies introduced into U.S. acquisition programs, partnerships with Israeli industry, and opportunities for long-term integration of joint capabilities. Some of the information may be included in classified annexes, but the Department of Defense will also be required to publish unclassified updates on the initiative's contribution to what the bill unequivocally calls "technological and military supremacy” of the United States.

Two other sections of the Pentagon budget law strengthen existing programs. Section 1222 transforms "anti-tunnel” cooperation into a much broader underground cooperation. The new wording no longer limits the program to the discovery and neutralization of tunnels, but includes underground facilities, bunkers, and other targets hidden underground. The program's authority is extended through 2029. Section 1223 extends, also through 2029, U.S.-Israeli cooperation to counter unmanned systems "in all domains of combat.” This wording covers not only aerial drones, which have become ubiquitous in recent conflicts, but also autonomous ground vehicles, unmanned naval systems, and potentially drone swarms coordinated by artificial intelligence.

Supporters of the bill describe the initiative as a direct investment in American security. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee welcomed the provision, saying it would allow the Pentagon to work more closely with Israel on strategic issues that will define 21st-century warfare and give the U.S. military a greater advantage over its adversaries. In this perspective, Israel is seen as an advanced military laboratory, capable of rapidly developing and testing interception systems, anti-drone technologies, electronic warfare tools, and solutions for urban and underground warfare.

But critics see the very mechanism as a dangerous surrender of autonomy. Republican Thomas Massie, one of the seven members of the party who voted against it, said the bill "tragically ties our military technology and supply chains to Israel's” and expressed hope that the House version would fail in the Senate, calling Section 219 "a betrayal of the our sovereignty.”

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the bill as a "license” for the government to continue the war. The Times of Israel reported that the measure also includes $73 billion for the military and intelligence community, including for operations related to the conflict with Iran, which the Pentagon had estimated at $37.5 billion.

The House bill is not yet the final form of the law. It must pass the Senate, where opposition to the cost, war with Iran and military rapprochement with Israel is more difficult to overcome. The NDAA is traditionally considered a law that must be passed annually, but the explosive nature of the current package could turn the negotiation between the two chambers into a major political showdown. Even if the total amount or some provisions will be modified, Section 219 has already introduced into the center of the American debate a question with consequences that go far beyond the 2027 budget year: is Israel still the privileged beneficiary of American military support or does it become the partner with which the United States will design, produce and use its weapons of the future?