The US Senate has approved the annual National Defence Authorisation act (NDAA) that authorises $770bn of funding for the Department of Defence (DoD).
The legislation will now be passed to the White House for US President Joe Biden’s signature.
According to a Reuters report, the bill received strong support from both the political parties in the Senate and was passed in an 88-11 vote.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the NDAA by 363-70.
The NDAA specifies the annual budget and expenditures for the DoD.
The NDAA for fiscal year 2022 will allocate nearly 5% more funding for defence, compared to last year. It also authorises nearly $25bn more than President Biden requested.
The news agency added that the bill includes a 2.7% pay raise for military personnel, and allocated funding to enable the armed forces to procure additional aircraft and ships.
The legislation includes $300m for the Ukraine Security Assistance initiative, $4bn for the European Defence initiative, and an additional $150m to facilitate security cooperation in the Baltic region.
The NDAA also allocates $7.1bn for the Pacific Deterrence initiative.
It will also set up a 16-member commission to assess the Afghanistan war.
US Senator Marco Rubio said: “I’m proud to support this year’s defence bill to ensure that our military has the resources it needs to protect America and our brave men and women are taken care of.”
The US and Lithuania recently signed a reciprocal defence procurement agreement to increase military collaboration between the two countries.
