Cyber Command details $236 million in new spending wish list

U.S Cyber Command has outlined just over $236 million in priorities that weren’t included in the command’s fiscal year 2023 spending request. 

The unfunded requirements list is one of several the various military services and the Defense Department’s combatant commands have shared with Congress as lawmakers begin to consider the White House's $733 billion budget request for the Pentagon next year.

The administration's spending proposal asks Congress to approve an overall budget of $717 million for Cyber Command, compared to $667 million the previous fiscal year.

The Cyber Command wishlist shows that the bulk of the extra money, roughly $168 million, would be spent on operational support for its Cyber Mission Force — a cadre of around 6,200 personnel pulled from the military branches and divided into 133 teams that conduct defensive and offensive digital activities.

The funds would boost “operational support to each of the Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture components to provide critical cyber capabilities,” according to the document, referring to a program that was established in 2019 to steer the command’s acquisition priorities and help it develop capabilities.

“Resources will facilitate increased throughput of advanced cyber training and joint curriculum development and maintenance,” the list states.

Another $56.4 million would go toward integrating the command’s JCWA to ensure the CMF reaches command and control readiness levels.

“This integration will help ensure that the program elements supporting JCWA are aligned with strategic priorities that affect operational outcomes in and across cyberspace.”

Earlier this month, Cyber Command and National Security Agency chief Gen. Paul Nakasone told lawmakers that JCW “consolidates and standardizes the Department's cyberspace operations capabilities, enabling us to integrate data from missions and monitoring to help commanders gauge risk, make timely decisions and act against threats at speed and scale.”

The Pentagon is “building JCWA and advancing the Cyber Mission Force's capabilities for conducting the full spectrum of cyberspace operations,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

An additional $12.1 million would accelerate Cyber Command’s “organic cyber intelligence capability to gain unique access to strategic competitor targets.”