The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) released its markup of a $651 billion defense bill for fiscal year 2018 on Nov. 21 and is requesting several defense cyber capabilities programs receive increased funding and called on projects showing slow progress to receive less funding than previously authorized in the White House’s budget request. .
The committee’s explanatory statement on the bill details an additional $21 million toward Army development of cyber capabilities for security & intelligence activities and over $10 million more than previously requested to improve the cyber resiliency of Air Force weapon systems.
Several other Army programs received requests for additional funding, including a $12 million boost in major testing and evaluation investment up to $114.9 million, to grow its cyber virtualization research program, and a total of $317.6 million for Army Test Ranges to fund system-of-system cyber security testing.
SAC also called for $18 million more in funding toward the Army’s Information Systems Security Program cyber security operations center. However, the same program received $44 million less than the original budget request to factor in program delays for its cryptographic modernization program.
The committee requested several programs receive a decrease in funding from the president’s budget request due to unjustified growth.
Cyberspace activities for Navy ship operations would receive $13 million less than the budget estimate and $31.8 million less for Air Force cyber operations technology development to improve program affordability.
The program to develop Army defensive cyber tools would be funded at $17 million less than the previous budget request to account for funds carried over from fiscal year 2017.
Most cyber-related programs in the SAC appropriations bill received the same level as the funding designated in the president’s requested budget.
The Army would receive $107.8 million for communications security procurement and $53.4 million to upgrade defensive cyber operations.
Both appropriation requests allocate $4.5 million for Navy cyber operations technology development. The Air Force would also receive $35.7 million for offensive cyberspace operations and $21 million for defensive cyber capabilities.
SAC’s bill also designates $14.8 million for DoD department-wide cyber security research and development to improve network resiliency.
“The Committee encourages the Department to continue to adequately resource the organization in future budget submissions to ensure its continued progress in protecting the Department’s systems from cyber threats,” SAC wrote in its explanatory statement of the bill.
The House passed its own $658.1 billion defense appropriations bill in July, and the bill is now a step closer to full negotiations.