{"id":10260,"date":"2018-05-25T11:33:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T11:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/25\/us-senate-defense-bill-would-prep-for-high-tech-fights\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:32:09","slug":"us-senate-defense-bill-would-prep-for-high-tech-fights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/c2-comms\/2018\/05\/25\/us-senate-defense-bill-would-prep-for-high-tech-fights\/","title":{"rendered":"US Senate defense bill would prep for high-tech fights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate Armed Services Committee passed a version of the $716 billion defense policy bill Thursday that emphasizes investment in future warfare \u2014 with provisions on cyber, hypersonic weapons<\/a> and artificial intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its National Defense Authorization Act would sprinkle $600 million more than the Trump administration budget requests into science, technology and testing programs, to include hypersonics, space constellation technologies, rocket propulsion, directed energy and quantum information science \u2014 the \u201ckey to advancing warfighting capabilities,\u201d according to a summary of the bill released Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel approved the massive bill after meeting behind closed doors this week, but the text of the bill itself is not expected for about another week. The panel was steered by its No. 2 Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe<\/a>, of Oklahoma, as its chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was battling brain cancer at home in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NDAA is several steps from becoming law. The House passed its version of the legislation earlier Thursday, and the Senate must pass its version of the bill before the two versions are reconciled over the summer into a final bill for both chambers to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate Armed Services Committee broke with the administration by authorizing fewer troops<\/a> than the president\u2019s budget request, fewer jets and fewer ships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel touted its version as aligning with the National Defense Strategy, which emphasizes great power competition with Russia and China and de-emphasizes the counterterror fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a clear nod at Russia, the bill would establish a policy that the U.S. should \u201cemploy all instruments of national power, including the use of offensive cyber capabilities, to deter if possible, and respond when necessary, to cyber attacks that target U.S. interests with the intent to cause casualties, significantly disrupt the normal functioning of our democratic society or government, threaten the Armed Forces or the critical infrastructure they rely upon, achieve an effect comparable to an armed attack, or imperil a U.S. vital interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as information technology goes, the bill would encourage the Pentagon to \u201crealign more than a dozen high priority software-intensive command and control and business systems and adopt commercial agile methods to deliver capabilities to users more frequently, keep pace with innovation, and avoid fielding capability that is already vulnerable and years behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t