Pentagon to be able to spend $100 m before approving military budget for 2024.
The US Department of Defense will be able to spend $100 million on defense projects before the final approval of military funding by lawmakers for 2024, Azernews reports, citing an international media outlet.
The draft defense budget for fiscal year 2024 (which began in the country on October 1) will allow the defense department to begin work on some military programs without formal congressional approval. However, the Pentagon units responsible for the implementation of a particular project will need to provide the Secretary of Defense with a justification for why work on these programs should begin immediately, without waiting for budget approval, what national security needs they meet and what their cost is.
Earlier, US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall made a similar initiative, but he offered to allocate $300m for these purposes. The minister stressed that the United States "concedes to China" the time spent on budget coordination.
Among the projects that can be funded from $ 100 million is the modernization of F-16 fighter jets, Andrew Hunter, Assistant Secretary of the US Air Force for Procurement, Technology and Logistics, said in an interview with Defense News in September. This will allow six aircraft to be equipped with autonomous software and begin experiments on the creation of unmanned fighters.
The draft US defense budget for 2024 was agreed upon by the Armed services committees of both houses of Congress last week. The defense budget will amount to a record $886 billion, which is 3% more than in the last fiscal year.
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