09/28/2006
Defense Spending
Some interesting facts on defense spending, from the Sept. 11, 2006, issue of Defense News, as reported by William Matthews.
Top Ten Spenders
[Estimated figures for 2005, except in the cases of Germany and Italy (2003) sources: CIA, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]
1. United States $518.10 billon 2. China 81.47 3. France 45.00 4. Japan 44.31 5. United Kingdom 42.84 6. Germany 35.06 7. Italy 28.18 8. South Korea 21.05 9. Russia 21.00 10. India 19.04
You can see the U.S. handily outspends the next nine combined, and if I carried it further, nineteen in a top twenty.
U.S. military spending is generally divided into two categories: the “base” or “peacetime” budget, which is $463 billion, and “emergency” funding for the wars, which the Bush administration has signaled would be about $110 billion for 2007. Congress has thus far authorized $50 billion of the $110 billion, with the White House calling for the other $60 billion sometime next spring.
[By Sept. 30, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will have cost American taxpayers $406.7 billion.]
But you’ve probably been reading about various shortfalls that the military still sees. Army chief of staff Peter Schoomaker, for example, has been roiling the Pentagon in going against his own boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Schoomaker says the Army faces a $17 billion shortfall in 2007 to replace equipment worn out or destroyed in combat. Under current plans, the Army would also be short about $12 billion in both 2008 and 2009.
In August, Air Force officials warned they are $8 billion short for the period 2008 to 2013. And the Navy says it needs another $3 to $4 billion to meet its goals. Both the Air Force and Navy have plans to reduce forces substantially to free up money.
It isn’t just hardware that is so expensive. Personnel costs have increased more than 45 percent since 2001, even after the job cuts. Wartime recruiting bonuses could increase as high as $40,000 and health care coverage for current servicemen, families and retirees has doubled in the past five years to $36 billion.
But some in Congress, such as Republican Senators John McCain and Jeff Sessions, aren’t about to stand still. McCain warned, “History shows that there are probably going to be reductions in defense spending and budgets,” adding that defense contractors must get spiraling weapon costs under control. Of course one of the big problems in cutting them is every program has local implications.
Meanwhile, China’s military budget is growing at close to 13 percent a year and will exceed $100 billion by 2015. The new mantra for their defense buyers is “zhixin xiquan,” or “informatization,” the purchase of systems that improve or complement existing weapons’ ability to provide information dominance, i.e., information warfare capability. Interestingly, China only has one electronic reconnaissance satellite at the moment and it is desperately attempting to acquire advanced Western radar technology. [Wendell Minnick / Defense News]
As for Russia, while its gross spending number may seem low, it has actually quadrupled over the past five years, with most of it going to bolster strategic nuclear forces. President Vladimir Putin says this nuclear deterrence procurement is necessary to power projection and the protection of Russian sovereignty. Others point out, however, that Russia’s conventional combat capabilities remain sorely lacking.
Furthermore, it’s easy to argue that Russia’s emphasis on its strategic nuclear force, while maintaining its competitiveness with the U.S., really does nothing to address the true threats to its security. [Nabi Abdullaev / Defense News]
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Currently overseas in Bulgaria and Romania Hott Spotts will return Oct. 12.
Brian Trumbore
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