The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday cleared through a unanimous vote a bill that would allocate $640 billion in defense base budget and $60 billion in overseas contingency operations funds for fiscal 2018, The Hill reported Wednesday.Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), chairman of the Senate committee, said the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act’s proposed base budget seeks to “address the readiness shortfall, crisis in modernization and eroding military advantage.â€
The Senate panel’s NDAA would authorize the procurement of a total of 97 Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter jets, purchase 24 Boeing-made F/A-18s, add $5 billion in shipbuilding funds and equip the U.S. Army with 6,000 additional troops.
The proposed measure would also allocate $65 million to a program that seeks to research and develop a ground-launched missile in response to Russia’s breach of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and direct the Defense Department’s secretary to develop the Asia-Pacific Stability Initiative.
The House Armed Services Committee also met Wednesday to begin markup of its proposed $696.5 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2018, the report added.
