The New York Analysis reviews whether the 2018 defense budget is sufficient to meet threats facing the United States.
In November, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)of 2018, providing $700 billion for national defense.
According to a Spacewar analysis, “The bill is some $26 billion above Trump’s initial military budget requests, and about 15 percent higher than the authorization in 2016, the last full year of Barack Obama’s presidency. It provides for $626 billion in base budget requirements, $66 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, or warfighting, and an additional $8 billion for other defense activities. Increased spending is allocated for new F-35 fighter jets, ships and M1 Abrams tanks, military pay is raised by 2.4 percent and $4.9 billion is reserved for Afghanistan security forces, including a program integrating women into the country’s national defense. It also authorizes $12.3 billion for the Missile Defense Agency to bolster homeland, regional, and space missile defenses, including the expansion of ground-based interceptors and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which has been recently deployed in South Korea”
Contrary to popular misconception, defense spending accounts for only about 14% of the federal budget, and 3.3% of GDP.According to Business Insider, Russia commits about 5.01% of its GDP for military spending.
It is an enduring mantra of the left that America overspends on defense. They are joined at times by budget hawks who believe that the task of keeping the U.S. safe can be done on the cheap. While any waste or fraud should be attacked in all government budgets, the dire threats facing the U.S. require substantially more resources. The Pentagon endured substantial budget cuts during the Obama administration, a result both of the former President’s unrealistic views on global affairs and proponents of the sequester concept, who, in an effort to rein in the deficit, made no distinction between truly vital programs and those that are merely pork and fluff. While President Trump has increased funding, the twin challenges of restoring a military that was gutted for the prior eight years, and the rise of armed threats from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorists require a more realistic approach.
Some of the shortages facing the U.S. military are extraordinary. A study from The Hill h reports that “Top Air Force leaders and lawmakers are warning that a pilot shortage of 2,000 could cripple the service, leaving it unready to handle its responsibilities. Military.com revealed that U.S. Navy “officials confirmed …week that the service will need “on the order” of 350 ships to accomplish its global mission in the coming decade… Currently, the Navy has 275 active ships.” The U.S. Navy is facing difficulties funding even its current undersized strength. A Breaking Defense report revealed that “A massive maintenance backlog has idled 15 nuclear-powered attack submarines for a total of 177 months, and the Navy’s plan to mitigate the problem is jeopardized by budget gridlock…Figures provided to us … show 14 other submarines are affected, with projected delays ranging from two months (USS Columbia, Montpellier, and Texas) to 21 (Greenville). And the Navy can’t simply send them back to sea, since without the maintenance work, the submarines can’t be certified as safe to dive…”
A CNN analysis poses the question: “questions are emerging as to whether the US Navy is up to the challenges it faces in the Pacific — from both a nuclear-armed North Korea and a strengthening China — at a time when its top leaders acknowledge it lacks the money, manpower and weapons to ensure success.”
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The Army, exhausted from decades of fighting, is both understrength and utterly exhausted. Marine pilots lack funds for adequate training.
The Obama experiment in cutting defense spending ended in failure, as China, Russia, and North Korea capitalized on the opportunity to expand their aggressive activity.
Unlike many other portions of the federal budget, military spending is in response to external factors beyond Washington’s control. An objective examination of those factors refutes the claims of those who believe the U.S. defense budget can be kept at current or even lower levels.
While media attention is finally being paid to the mistake of not developing a comprehensive missile defense shield as protection against the rapidly growing nuclear threat from North Korea and elsewhere, insufficient coverage has been given to the dramatic buildup and aggressive actions of Russia, China, and Iran. Nor has there been adequate discussion over the fact that those three nations have formed a virtual alliance aimed against Washington and its allies. Together, they represent the most dangerous and powerful foe America has ever faced. They constitute the only adversary that is larger geographically, in population, and in industrial capacity the U.S. has ever faced. Further, unlike the Axis powers Germany and Japan in World War 2, they are contiguous, and able to easily combine their strength.
Some observers may include North Korea in this grouping. Despite a lengthy list of assurances from Beijing that it seeks to restrain Pyongyang, the reality is considerably different. An October Carnegie study notes: “It may seem as if Beijing finally is ready to work with Washington—but appearances can be deceiving.”
The Report Continues Monday.