John Bennett writes Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee chairperson, told a Senate session that the funding also would allow the Pentagon to target the Boko Haram group.
The Boko Haram organization is responsible for the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria.
Hagan also told the session that the subcommittee voted to shift $20 million from other Pentagon spending toward U.S. Southern Command requirements, Defense News reports.
Bennett writes the funding is intended to upgrade the Special Operations Commandâs MQ-9 Reaper drone fleet.