The US Department of Defense has requested $9.6 billion in the 2016 budget year to counter "a maturing long-range missile threat from North Korea and the potential threat from Iran," the Associated Press reports.
The Pentagon’s base budget has increased by 7.7 percent from last year, reaching $534 billion, which makes it the largest in US history, according to the Associate Press. However, the $51-billion funding for overseas contingency operations is a 21 percent decrease compared with the 2015 budget year, the news agency said.
The current defense budget proposal ignores the cap of $499 billion, imposed by Congress.
On Monday, US President Barack Obama unveiled a nearly $4-trillion budget for fiscal year 2016, which must be approved by Congress to take effect.