US military budget: new increase and new spending
Traditionally, in mid-September, US lawmakers conclude the discussion on the draft military budget submitted, make recent amendments and approve its final version. The new budget, which will allocate defense spending in the 2018 fiscal year, was passed a few days ago. In the very near future, the document will come into force, and it is already possible to find out what it envisages and how it differs from previous budgets.
The main difference of the new budget is its size. In the next fiscal year, the US will spend 692 billion dollars on defense. For comparison, the budget of the final 2017 f.d. was only 619 billion. In the course of several previous months, the draft military budget was adjusted several times, which is why the estimated amount of expenditures changed several times. The project proposed in May included spending of 677 billions. Later, there were proposals to reduce or, conversely, increase. For example, the head of the Senate Committee on the Armed Forces, John McCain, spoke of the need to allocate at least 700 billions.
In the context of the size of the budget, it should be noted that the adopted document does not comply with the Budget Control Act, effective from 2011 of the year. In accordance with the plans of the beginning of the decade, which implied a gradual reduction in military spending, in 2018, the defense should have spent no more than 549 billion dollars. However, in this respect, the administration of Donald Trump differs little from the previous leadership of the country. The budget for 2017 FG, adopted under President Barack Obama, also exceeded the recommendations of the 2011 Act of the year. But it should be noted that now the actual budget is even more beyond the recommended framework.
As always, the defense budget is divided into three main parts. The first and largest is the budget of the Ministry of Defense, which provides for the maintenance of the army and its materiel, the purchase of weapons and equipment, etc. For these needs is supposed to spend 668 billion. This number includes the amount of 65 billion dollars to continue operations abroad. The remaining money will go to finance the defense programs of the nuclear industry, as well as other projects and procurement related to defense, but passing through other agencies.
Even at the stage of discussion of the project, the Pentagon announced exactly what additional financing would go for, due to which the new budget exceeds the current one. In 2018, it is planned to continue to increase the size of the army and the Marine Corps, begun under the previous president. In addition, D. Trump initiated an increase in numerical indicators. fleet and the Air Force, which will also be continued next fiscal year. At the same time, funding for existing units, logistics, training, etc. will be increased. The plans of the military and political leadership also include the development of production capacities of shipbuilding enterprises.
A significant part of military spending in the new fiscal year will be associated with the purchase of various products and the financing of new developments. In particular, much attention is planned to be paid to the development of strategic nuclear forces. Funding will continue for the development of a promising B-21 bomber, as well as a new cruise missile for it. It is supposed to pay for the modernization of the existing ballistic missiles of submarines, as well as work on the project of a new submarine. Funding is provided for a project of a promising intercontinental ground-based missile.
According to early budget drafts, in 2018 FG should have bought 44 interceptor missiles for use in missile defense. Also, substantial sums were supposed to be allocated to pay for work on the creation of new antimissiles and other defense systems. One of the most expensive components of these plans should be the deployment of missile defense bases abroad, primarily in European countries.
The order of 6-8 billions previously proposed to spend on military space programs. Of particular interest in this area is the project of developing a promising rocket engine, with the help of which it is planned to abandon the purchase of Russian products in the future.
The ground forces, in accordance with existing plans, will have to receive a significant number of new equipment and weapons. For example, it was supposed to get more than 2 thousand armored cars JLTV. Modernization will also continue. tanks M1A2 Abrams, which started not so long ago. Armored vehicles of new types and other equipment will be purchased for the KMP. Information on the acquisition of significant quantities of armored combat vehicles of other types is not available.
Financing the naval forces will make it possible to order and at least partially pay for nine new ships, submarines and vessels. About $ 4,5 billion will be spent on the second aircraft carrier of the new series. Payment for this ship will be carried out over the next few years. More than 5 billion will go for the purchase of two new submarines such as Virginia and a partial payment for the third. Two new Arleigh Burke Flight III series destroyers and two Littoral Combat Ship ships will also be ordered and paid for. Financing will begin for the construction of the next universal amphibious assault ship such as America. Marine aviation will order several P-8 anti-submarine aircraft.
The air force, using a certain budget, will be able to order dozens of new aircraft. First of all, they will be fighters of the F-35 family. Existing aircraft and helicopters, in turn, will undergo repairs and upgrades. Scheduled purchase of several dozen medium and heavy class UAVs.
Congress allowed the Pentagon to spend billions of dollars on various 65 operations. In accordance with the original plans, the bulk of this amount will go to pay for actions abroad. Only about 16 billions are expected to be spent on mobilization and various actions in the United States. Other money is needed to continue working in Iraq, Afghanistan and other theaters of military operations. In particular, the budget provides for the continuation of cooperation with the so-called. moderate opposition and Kurdish formations in Syria and Iraq.
The new budget provides financial and other assistance to friendly states in different regions. Of particular interest in this context are plans for the two countries. So, 150 million dollars is supposed to be spent on helping Ukraine. At the same time, only half of this amount can be used immediately, while the distribution of the remaining 75 millions will be possible only with the approval of Congress. It was also announced the continuation of support for Georgia and assistance in certain areas.
The new US military budget is markedly different from a similar document, which ends in a few days. At the same time, the observed changes do not look unexpected or surprising. Even during his election campaign, future President Donald Trump expressed his intention to develop the armed forces, as well as to support the domestic defense industry. These statements to some extent overlapped with already existing plans, which in the recent past led to visible results.
It was in connection with the desire to support the army and the military-industrial complex, the new administration expanded its plans to purchase products, and also increased funding in other areas. Already there are forecasts that such peculiarities of the budget will lead not only to certain consequences in the context of defense, but also to the improvement of D. Trump's relations with the leaders of the military industry enterprises.
After several years of constant and systematic cuts in military spending, official Washington is returning to increasing them. This time the military budget was increased from 619 to 692 billion dollars. It should be noted that this contributes to preserving the United States in the first place in the list of countries with the highest defense spending. Moreover, this situation existed in the past, at the time of cuts under B. Obama. For example, in the 2017 fiscal year, when the US spent 619 billions on defense, the Chinese defense budget (second in the world) was 146 billion dollars. Russia, in turn, lags behind both of these countries, allocating only 69 billions for defense.
In accordance with the norms of US law, the budget approved by Congress must go through some additional procedures, after which it will be signed by the president. Just a few days after this, 1 October, the document will take effect. The US military will begin a new reporting period, during which it will have to implement a lot of plans in various areas.
On the materials of the sites:
https://congress.gov/
http://globalsecurity.org/
http://ria.ru/
http://tass.ru/
https://eadaily.com/
The main difference of the new budget is its size. In the next fiscal year, the US will spend 692 billion dollars on defense. For comparison, the budget of the final 2017 f.d. was only 619 billion. In the course of several previous months, the draft military budget was adjusted several times, which is why the estimated amount of expenditures changed several times. The project proposed in May included spending of 677 billions. Later, there were proposals to reduce or, conversely, increase. For example, the head of the Senate Committee on the Armed Forces, John McCain, spoke of the need to allocate at least 700 billions.
In the context of the size of the budget, it should be noted that the adopted document does not comply with the Budget Control Act, effective from 2011 of the year. In accordance with the plans of the beginning of the decade, which implied a gradual reduction in military spending, in 2018, the defense should have spent no more than 549 billion dollars. However, in this respect, the administration of Donald Trump differs little from the previous leadership of the country. The budget for 2017 FG, adopted under President Barack Obama, also exceeded the recommendations of the 2011 Act of the year. But it should be noted that now the actual budget is even more beyond the recommended framework.
As always, the defense budget is divided into three main parts. The first and largest is the budget of the Ministry of Defense, which provides for the maintenance of the army and its materiel, the purchase of weapons and equipment, etc. For these needs is supposed to spend 668 billion. This number includes the amount of 65 billion dollars to continue operations abroad. The remaining money will go to finance the defense programs of the nuclear industry, as well as other projects and procurement related to defense, but passing through other agencies.
Even at the stage of discussion of the project, the Pentagon announced exactly what additional financing would go for, due to which the new budget exceeds the current one. In 2018, it is planned to continue to increase the size of the army and the Marine Corps, begun under the previous president. In addition, D. Trump initiated an increase in numerical indicators. fleet and the Air Force, which will also be continued next fiscal year. At the same time, funding for existing units, logistics, training, etc. will be increased. The plans of the military and political leadership also include the development of production capacities of shipbuilding enterprises.
A significant part of military spending in the new fiscal year will be associated with the purchase of various products and the financing of new developments. In particular, much attention is planned to be paid to the development of strategic nuclear forces. Funding will continue for the development of a promising B-21 bomber, as well as a new cruise missile for it. It is supposed to pay for the modernization of the existing ballistic missiles of submarines, as well as work on the project of a new submarine. Funding is provided for a project of a promising intercontinental ground-based missile.
According to early budget drafts, in 2018 FG should have bought 44 interceptor missiles for use in missile defense. Also, substantial sums were supposed to be allocated to pay for work on the creation of new antimissiles and other defense systems. One of the most expensive components of these plans should be the deployment of missile defense bases abroad, primarily in European countries.
The order of 6-8 billions previously proposed to spend on military space programs. Of particular interest in this area is the project of developing a promising rocket engine, with the help of which it is planned to abandon the purchase of Russian products in the future.
The ground forces, in accordance with existing plans, will have to receive a significant number of new equipment and weapons. For example, it was supposed to get more than 2 thousand armored cars JLTV. Modernization will also continue. tanks M1A2 Abrams, which started not so long ago. Armored vehicles of new types and other equipment will be purchased for the KMP. Information on the acquisition of significant quantities of armored combat vehicles of other types is not available.
Financing the naval forces will make it possible to order and at least partially pay for nine new ships, submarines and vessels. About $ 4,5 billion will be spent on the second aircraft carrier of the new series. Payment for this ship will be carried out over the next few years. More than 5 billion will go for the purchase of two new submarines such as Virginia and a partial payment for the third. Two new Arleigh Burke Flight III series destroyers and two Littoral Combat Ship ships will also be ordered and paid for. Financing will begin for the construction of the next universal amphibious assault ship such as America. Marine aviation will order several P-8 anti-submarine aircraft.
The air force, using a certain budget, will be able to order dozens of new aircraft. First of all, they will be fighters of the F-35 family. Existing aircraft and helicopters, in turn, will undergo repairs and upgrades. Scheduled purchase of several dozen medium and heavy class UAVs.
Congress allowed the Pentagon to spend billions of dollars on various 65 operations. In accordance with the original plans, the bulk of this amount will go to pay for actions abroad. Only about 16 billions are expected to be spent on mobilization and various actions in the United States. Other money is needed to continue working in Iraq, Afghanistan and other theaters of military operations. In particular, the budget provides for the continuation of cooperation with the so-called. moderate opposition and Kurdish formations in Syria and Iraq.
The new budget provides financial and other assistance to friendly states in different regions. Of particular interest in this context are plans for the two countries. So, 150 million dollars is supposed to be spent on helping Ukraine. At the same time, only half of this amount can be used immediately, while the distribution of the remaining 75 millions will be possible only with the approval of Congress. It was also announced the continuation of support for Georgia and assistance in certain areas.
The new US military budget is markedly different from a similar document, which ends in a few days. At the same time, the observed changes do not look unexpected or surprising. Even during his election campaign, future President Donald Trump expressed his intention to develop the armed forces, as well as to support the domestic defense industry. These statements to some extent overlapped with already existing plans, which in the recent past led to visible results.
It was in connection with the desire to support the army and the military-industrial complex, the new administration expanded its plans to purchase products, and also increased funding in other areas. Already there are forecasts that such peculiarities of the budget will lead not only to certain consequences in the context of defense, but also to the improvement of D. Trump's relations with the leaders of the military industry enterprises.
After several years of constant and systematic cuts in military spending, official Washington is returning to increasing them. This time the military budget was increased from 619 to 692 billion dollars. It should be noted that this contributes to preserving the United States in the first place in the list of countries with the highest defense spending. Moreover, this situation existed in the past, at the time of cuts under B. Obama. For example, in the 2017 fiscal year, when the US spent 619 billions on defense, the Chinese defense budget (second in the world) was 146 billion dollars. Russia, in turn, lags behind both of these countries, allocating only 69 billions for defense.
In accordance with the norms of US law, the budget approved by Congress must go through some additional procedures, after which it will be signed by the president. Just a few days after this, 1 October, the document will take effect. The US military will begin a new reporting period, during which it will have to implement a lot of plans in various areas.
On the materials of the sites:
https://congress.gov/
http://globalsecurity.org/
http://ria.ru/
http://tass.ru/
https://eadaily.com/
- Ryabov Kirill
- Wikimedia Commons
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