WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The Pentagon has been given its $368 billion wish list from Congress to modernize and expand its fleet of aircraft, ships and weapons, a report said Thursday.
The measure passed in the House by a vote of 407 to 15 after seven minutes of debate. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation Thursday, the Washington Post said.
The $75 billion for new hardware, electronics and weapons "platforms" -- ranging from old-line tanks with updated sensors to a futuristic minisub capable of carrying commandos -- was included in a $368.2 billion Pentagon spending bill for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday.
Faced with rapidly escalating costs in the Navy's main submarine program, the final House-Senate compromise stripped out two of the seven vessels the service wanted funded over the next five years. It sharply reprimanded the Navy for signing a deal with contractors for an extra ship without congressional approval.
