The Senate Armed Services Commission (SASC) has released the text of its annual defense policy bill (US defense budget), which increases billions in procurement and research funds.
The SASC version of the National Eligibility Act 2023 will approve a $ 45 billion increase in defense spending, to a total of $ 847 billion, at a time when high inflation is eating into the Pentagon.
The U.S. is facing increasingly aggressive China and the Pentagon is sending weapons to Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion of the country. In a statement, SASC Chairman Senator Jack Reed called the bill an “important step forward.”
The SASC version appears to be closely following the summary of legislation released last month, giving the Pentagon about $ 158 billion in procurement, compared to $ 144.2 billion at the Pentagon’s request. Congress has increased funding for fighter jets, Navy and Marine Corps vessels, armored vehicles and short- and long-range weapons.
The bill approves $ 137.7 billion in research, development, testing and evaluation funds, more than $ 7.5 billion above the budget request. This spending “supports” the military’s modernization efforts on long-range weapons, future vertical appearance, next-generation combat vehicles, air defense and missiles.
The research expenses increase in the proposal also for for microelectronics and hypersonics. The proposal includes about $ 300 million for the Pentagon surfing interception initiative, which the head of the Missile Defense Agency says is still in the early stages of R&D. In opposition to the Biden administration’s plan.
The legislation also provides funding of $ 800 million to the Ukraine Security Assistance Fund. In recent days, the United States has sent another $ 400 million worth of weapons to the country, bringing the total US security assistance to the Ukrainians to $ 8 billion since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
In the Pacific, the proposal increases funding for the $ 1.1 billion deterrence initiative in the Pacific “for unfunded demands identified by the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.” In addition, it approves $ 245 million for joint command and control in all areas, including a joint force headquarters in India-Pacific, according to a summary from last month.