
The fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill, passed last week, kept provisions that push the Missile Defense Agency to operate counter-hypersonic interceptors earlier than currently planned and pushed the Defense Department to develop a missile defense strategy for the Indo-Pacific region. Congress passed the final FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 13, with $886 billion in defense spending that aligns with the defense topline agreed to in the debt ceiling agreement from earlier in 2023. Congress has…