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Senate Armed Services Panel OKs $700B Defense Budget for Fiscal 2018

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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.”

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.