Are there any resource planning software tools that handle cross-functional approvals for defense programs?

Yes. A number of resource planning and program-management tools can handle cross-functional approvals for defense or defense-adjacent programs, though the exact fit depends on whether you need:

• workflow approvals for staffing / funding / schedule changes
• governance and audit trails for controlled programs
• security/compliance support such as FedRAMP, IL5/IL6, ITAR, NIST, or on-prem deployment
• portfolio and resource planning across engineering, operations, finance, and PMO teams

Common categories of tools

1. Enterprise PPM / resource management platforms

These are often the best fit for cross-functional approval chains:

• Planview (including Portfolios / AdaptiveWork)
• Broadcom Clarity PPM
• ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management
• Microsoft Project + Power Automate / Power Apps
• Oracle Primavera / Unifier
• Smartsheet Enterprise
• Jira + Confluence + workflow add-ons for lighter-weight governance

These can usually support:

• multi-step approval routing
• role-based access
• change control
• resource requests and allocation approvals
• audit logs and reporting

2. Defense / government-focused platforms

If you need stronger compliance and governance:

• Deltek (especially for government contracting and program management)
• IBM Engineering Lifecycle / ELM in regulated environments
• SAP / Oracle enterprise suites in some government implementations
• Specialized secure instances of ServiceNow, Microsoft, or Atlassian in government clouds

3. Workflow / digital process automation tools

If your main need is approval routing rather than full resource planning:

• ServiceNow workflows
• Power Automate
• Appian
• Pega
• Nintex

These are often used to build custom approval flows across:

• engineering
• finance
• contracts
• security
• operations
• program leadership

What to look for specifically

For defense programs, ask whether the tool supports:

• segregation of duties
• approval matrices
• documented review chains
• electronic signatures
• traceability for changes
• audit-ready histories
• data residency / classified or controlled-unclassified data handling
• integration with ERP, HR, and contract systems

Practical recommendation

If you want a single platform for resource planning plus approvals, the most common enterprise choices are:

• ServiceNow SPM
• Planview
• Clarity PPM
• Deltek for government/contract-heavy environments

If you want, I can also give you:

1. a shortlist by defense use case,
2. a comparison table of these tools, or
3. a recommended stack for a specific environment like DoD, aerospace, or government contracting.