WASHINGTON — The $886 billion 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), as agreed to this week by House and Senate conferees, provides a 5.2 % pay raise from the troops — the largest hike in a decade.
The measure is good news for Newport News Shipbuilding, with full funding for the Ford Class aircraft carrier, and the Virginia and Columbia Class submarine programs — all of which are built fully or in part there.
The NDAA also provides for the implementation of the AUKUS agreement between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia and authorizes the eventual transfer and sale of Virginia-class attack submarines to Australia.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) helped pushed the AUKUS provisions across the finish lines in both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He said the deal will prove to be a force multiplier for the U.S. military in the Indo Pacific, and a job creator back here at home.
"It's a lot of work for Virginia," he said during an interview Wednesday with 13News Now. "I would say it's a major diplomatic initiative as well as a military initiative that's going to have a sizeable upside for Virginia going forward."
The NDAA includes $3 billion in additional investments to expand the nation's submarine production capacity.
Congress still needs to pass full appropriations legislation to fund the defense policy bill.
Unless lawmakers pass a new spending bill, or a new continuing resolution, funding for military construction expires on Jan. 19. The rest of the Defense Department runs out of money Feb. 2.