US Cyber Command Requests $138 Million for AI Cyber Operations in FY27, Up From $5 Million

US Cyber Command is requesting $138 million in fiscal year 2027 for its AI for Cyber Operations program, a 2,660 percent increase over the $5 million sought last year. The $138 million FY27 request is the second dedicated spend on AI from the command and appears in its research and development budget request.

Breaking Defense reported that the funding will support measurable improvements in intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, offensive cyber operations, defensive cyber operations and integrated foundational activities.

The National Defense Authorization Act for FY23 required US Cyber Command to develop a five-year AI roadmap. In response the command established an AI task force within its Cyber National Mission Force in 2024. For FY27 the funding request will go toward replicating AI task forces across all of US Cyber Command to scale pilots and institutionalize AI-enabled mission workflows.

The request will also provide large language model access at multiple classifications for advanced analytic capabilities. It will integrate AI into the cyber workforce training pipeline to ensure teams are trained to employ these capabilities. In addition the command established a new one-star position as chief of AI, with Brig.

Gen. Reid Novotny entering the role in November. US Cyber Command anticipates $124 million in AI investments in FY28, $50 million in FY29 and $47 million in FY30. The budget request aims to evaluate commercial and government developed initiatives to develop specialized AI and machine learning capabilities.

It will expand AI-enabled target development, automated planning and mission dependency analysis. The investments will advance automated intelligence exploitation and accelerate malware analysis for hunt forward operations. They will establish machine learning operations services, deploy cloud-based and generative AI models in operational environments and integrate Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and agentic AI frameworks.

The overall goal is to accelerate decision making, improve threat detection and increase the effectiveness of offensive and defensive cyber operations. U.S. critical infrastructure at risk, according to US Cyber Command budget documents.

To maintain decision superiority, the command must field AI capabilities that allow cyber operators to process large volumes of data, identify malicious activity and respond to threats faster than human operators alone can achieve. "AI enabled tools provide the ability to find, characterize, and counter adversary activity at machine speed, ensuring the United States can maintain freedom of action in cyberspace," the budget documents state.

The enhancements in offensive operations aim to increase the number of operational options available and improve the ability to meet mission priorities at scale.

Defensive improvements seek to enable faster response time to threats through standardized reporting. Staff Sgt. Wendell Myler, a cyber warfare operations journeyman assigned to the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group of the Maryland Air National Guard, monitors live cyber attacks on the operations floor of the 27th Cyberspace Squadron.

The photo of Staff Sgt. M. Eddins Jr. U.S. Air Force. The article was published by Breaking Defense.