Pentagon Requests $13.6Bln for Missile Defence in Fiscal Year 2020 – Dept

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – President Donald Trump has requested $13.6 billion to upgrade existing missile defence and begin developing space-based weapons to counter hypersonic missile threats, the Defence Department has said in a statement.

"The FY 2020 Budget funds the sustainment of the surge in missile defense investment we undertook in FY 2018 and FY 2019, while also investing in Missile Defense Review efforts at $13.6 billion", the Defence Department said in a summary of Trump's proposed military budget.

The Missile Defence Review describes weapons systems needed to prevent and defeat adversary missile attacks through a combination of deterrence, missile defences and attack operations, according to the Department of Defence.

The US Department of Defence further elaborated that President Donald Trump has requested a budget of $250 million for the Pentagon to support the military and national security forces in Ukraine.

"The 2020 budget request for EDI [the European Deterrence Initiative] includes $250 million to provide assistance and support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine, and for replacement of any weapons or defensive articles provided to the Government of Ukraine from the inventory of the United States", the Defence Department said in an overview of its FY 2020 budget proposal.

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The US government budget proposal listed $750 under "defence total" spending for the fiscal year 2020, which is 4.7 percent more from the $716 billion allocated in the fiscal year 2019.