
The newly completed fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 1625) contains $233.5 billion for the Department of Defense to develop and buy weapon systems, an increase of more than $41 billion from FY 2017.The legislation includes $144.3 billion for procurement, up $25.4 billion from FY 2017, and $89.2 billion for research and development, a $16 billion rise. The omnibus includes a total of $700 billion for defense, an $80 billion increase from FY 2017, which is consistent with the budget…