The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a bill that would increase the Department of Defense’s budget by $24 billion for fiscal year 2022 to advance artificial intelligence, machine learning and other technologies, improve infrastructure and facilities across the service branches and develop capabilities to counter Chinese threats, Breaking Defense reported Monday.
The bill would provide $17.9 billion for the U.S. Space Force to help fund its military personnel, acquisition and operations accounts and $2.5 billion in funds to support the development of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s missile tracking capabilities, Marine Corps Force Design 2030 efforts and Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii and Guam Defense System as part of efforts to counter China.
The measure would fund a $500 million program to ramp up use of AI at combatant commands and provide $1.6 billion in additional funds to support facilities and infrastructure sustainment efforts.
The Senate panel’s defense spending bill also includes $1.8 billion for 16 C-130J planes for the Air National Guard; $1.7 billion for another DDG-51 destroyer; and $1 billion to meet “urgent requirements” for Israel’s Iron Dome platform.
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