Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the U.S. Cyber Command, has said at a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing that his organization seeks a $647 million budget for fiscal 2018, up 17 percent from the command’s current spending level, Nextgov reported Tuesday.
He told subcommittee members that the proposed funding increase would primarily support preparations to elevate Cybercom’s status from a sub-unified military command of to a full combatant command.
Rogers, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 for 2017, added that President Donald Trump will determine when the elevation should occur.
Cybercom aims to buy cyber defense tools from the private sector in the next few months under an expanded authority granted by Congress in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act.
The 2016 NDAA allocated $75 million for the command’s annual cyber technology purchases over five years.
