The Department of Defense found $5.7 billion in savings following an internal review of “fourth estate” agencies, Defense News reported Thursday.
DoD will redirect the identified funding towards new priorities in support of the National Defense Strategy. Those priorities include artificial intelligence, nuclear modernization, missile defense, space initiatives, hypersonic weapons, 5G communications technologies and response force readiness.
The report said the savings account for approximately 5.8 percent of the Pentagon’s overall budget for fourth estate agencies, which represent approximately $99 billion in funds in the department’s budget for fiscal year 2021. DoD also moved another $2.1 billion in funds from such agencies into service branches. Defense Secretary and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner Mark Esper launched the review process in August.
