US Defence Budget signed into law – C-UAS spending rises across the services

President Joe Biden has signed into law six fiscal 2024 spending bills, including one containing USD824.5 billion for the Defense Department, according to the National Guard Association (NGA).

According to the US Senate Committee on Appropriations, the bill fully funds the budget request for counter-small UAS and provides more than USD177 million above the budget request, including for Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (CUAS) Group 3 Defeat Acceleration, 5G-enabled drones, and high energy laser atmospheric study and prototype systems.

“Congress technically missed a deadline of midnight Friday to send the appropriations package to the White House, but still averted a partial shutdown of the federal government,” said the NGA. “The Pentagon can now launch the initiatives and procure the key weapons systems it had planned for this year.”

The US Army’s 2025 budget request includes USD13.5 million for hand-held C-UAS devices to equip a division and USD54.2 million for backpack-size jammers, according to press reports. Other C-UAS items on the budget include: