The U.S. defense sector is spending heavily on tech in 2026. Congress approved $23 billion for President Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense plan early in the year, even without a final blueprint. That shows how fast Washington is pushing money into next-gen military tech, and it is not just about hardware.
Earlier this month, Dell Technologies and Palantir (PLTR) rolled out an on-premise AI system built on Dell’s AI Factory with Nvidia (NVDA), aimed at defense groups, hospitals, and other sectors that cannot risk sending sensitive data to the cloud. These are the customers driving the next phase of AI spending.