
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) included plans to stand up a new Pacific Deterrence Initiatives worth nearly $6 billion in its fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill, demonstrating the committee’s intent to boost deterrence against China in the Indo-Pacific (INDOPACOM) region. The committee’s markup of the FY ’21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2021 for the new fund and over $5 billion for FY ’22. The Pacific Deterrence Initiative will send “a strong…