Congress has just voted on a $1.3 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that will get us to the end of the fiscal year in September. And the President has reluctantly signed the measure thereby keeping the government from once again shutting down. At 2,232 pages there is something for almost everyone. Well not everyone; if you believe that the dreamers should receive immigration relief, or that the Affordable Care Act should receive help in order to keep premiums somewhat in control, you won’t find it here.
However, if you are a member of the Military – Industrial – Congressional complex, you have to be elated.
Overall, the amount for the military is $700 billion, and $716 billion next fiscal year. The FY 2018 amount includes $65 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (money for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria). The increase in military spending is $61 billion over FY 2017. Active duty strength will be 1,322,500 and reserve strength 816,900–all told an increase of 9500 more troops.
Components of this massive appropriation include:
· $137 billion for personnel, that includes a 2.4 pay raise
· $89 billion for research and development, $16 billion more than 2017.
· $144 billion for procurement, an increase of $25 billion over 2017.
· $238 billion for operations and maintenance.
One of President Trumps recent tweets spoke of the coming “arms race.” Many responded along the lines of “what do you mean arms race; nobody said anything about an arms race.” My response is look at the numbers – Russia spends between $70 and $100 billion annually, China around $150 and $200 billion and we are about to spend $700 billion with an additional $716 billion starting next October. Not to mention our many large allies. These numbers go back to the magnitude of the cold war.
Here are some of the things the Pentagon wants to buy, as presented in a recent list by Military.com
Army.
Vehicles:
* $348 million for 116 Stryker Double V-Hull upgrades and $300 million for Stryker lethality upgrades
* $1.1 billion for the upgrade of 85 Abrams tanks (more tanks!)
* $483 million for the upgrade of 145 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
* $220 million for National GuardHigh Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehiclerecapitalization, including $120 million specifically for ambulance modernization.
- $107 million for nineMQ-1Grey Eagle vehicles and payloads (Army).
And a whole lot of planes:
- $600 million for fiveMC-130Jaircraft (Special Operations Command) and $480 million for six C-130J aircraft (Air National Guard).
.• $577 million for 17 AH-64 Apache helicopters (Army).
- $387 million for eightCH-47Chinook helicopters (Army and Special Operations Command).
- $108 million for eightUH-60Blackhawk helicopters (Army National Guard).
- $90 million for 11UH-72Lakota helicopters (Army).
- $110 million for additionalRQ-7 Shadowsystems (Army).
- $40 million for two SATURN ARCH aircraft (Army).
- $29 million for one Dash 8 maritime patrol aircraft (Southern Command).
Navy, Marines and Coast Guard
Ships – Construction of 14 new ships: one aircraft carrier, two Virginia- class submarines, two DDG-51 destroyers, three Littoral Combat Ships, one LX(R) amphibious assault ship, one Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, one Expeditionary Sea Base, one TAO fleet oiler, one Towing, Salvage and Rescue ship (ATS), and one T-AGS oceanographic survey ship.
* $225 million for the expansion of the submarine industrial base
* $150 million to accelerate procurement of a Heavy Polar Icebreaker,
And a whole lot more planes
*Six carrier variant, and four vertical take-off F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as well as additional tooling and spare engines
- $739 million for 10 F-18Super Hornetaircraft (Navy). Good news for St. Louis.
- $676 million for eight V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft (Marine Corps and Navy).
* $501 million for three P-8A Poseidon aircraft (Navy).
- $400 million for eightMH-60Rhelicopters (Navy).
- $250 million for two CH-53K King Stallion helicopters (Marine Corps).
- $221 million for sevenUH-1Y/AH-1Zhelicopters (Marine Corps).
- $207 million for twoC-40aircraft (Marine Corps).
- $84 million for sixMQ-8 Fire Scoutvehicles (Navy).
Airforce
Planes
* Northrop Grumman is building up to 200 B-21 Raiders, designed to replace the B-52, B-1 and B-2. How much is allocated in the new budget for this plane (estimated cost $500 million plus per plane) is not clear.
*$1.2 billion? for 10 conventional take-off and landing F-35As
- $510 million for threeKC-46Atanker aircraft (Air Force).
- $130 million for two C-37B aircraft (Air Force)
* $103 million for the wing replacement program on the A-10 Thunderbolt (until recently the Pentagon wanted to kill this plane)
- $100 million for oneHC-130Jaircraft (Air Force).
Missiles
* $11. 5 billion for the Missile Defense Agency (if only there was confidence that the anti ICBM system worked).
* $568 million to expand Missile Field #4 at Fort Greely, Alaska ( 20 additional Ground-Based Interceptors.)
Good News
The Korean Summit. The recent decision by President Moon Jae-in (South Korea), Kim Jung-un (North Korea) and President Trump is promising. Of course, it may go nowhere, and, worse case, could enflame tensions more severely than ever. However, for the time being the prospect of not hearing about “fire and fury”, “rocket man” and the size of nuclear buttons, is a welcome change.
Department of Defense Audit. It is hard to believe, but in December, David Norquist, the Defense Department Comptroller announced that this year an audit would be issued on November 15, to be repeated in the years to come. For years members of Congress have demanded such an audit, while other groups like the General Accountability Office have claimed it was impossible. Reportedly, 2400 auditors will be assigned to the project, many from independent public accounting firms.
No First Use Bill. In November 2017, Congress Adam Smith, Democrat from the 9th Congressional district of the State of Washington, and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced HB 4415 which would have the USA adopt a policy not to be the first to use a nuclear weapon. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA33) have proposed similar measures. President Obama is said to have seriously considered this policy, but ultimately was talked out of it.
Bad News
The turnover continues. John Bolton replaces Lieutenant General HR McMaster as chief National Security Advisor. We are told that McMaster didn’t click with President Trump; that the President felt he was too cautious and boring in his briefings. In his place Trump wants a long-time hawk. Bolton tried to deal with Iran Contra as deputy Attorney General to President Reagan; later, he argued, and still does for the invasion of Iraq back in 2003, and as recently as last month he was stating the case for a preemptive strike in North Korea. On Fox news he also has claimed that Iran should be bombed. Is this the person we need coordinating strategy analysis for the President?
Trump Doubles down on Saudi Arabia. As President Obama was leaving office he decided to block the transfer of “precision” weapons to Saudi Arabia. The concern was that in its war against the Houthi rebels, there were unacceptably civilian casualties. The President and Mad dog Mattis see it differently. They have approved the sale of 6700 US made (Raytheon) anti-tank missiles to Saudi Arabia. All told, the military aid to S.A.will add up to around one million dollars.
Our old favorite, the F-35. The evening television news has footage of the latest and greatest joint strike fighters on aircraft carriers off the coast of Korea, with brave talk from the pilots. The problem is that, although some 235 of the extremely expensive planes have been designated “combat ready”, there is a lot that needs to be fixed. Selected 17 years ago to be built for around $40 or 50 million, the planes now cost on the order of $120 million per plane, and a recent report from the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation Director lists 264 “high priority” performance and safety deficiencies. The Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information – Project on Government Onsight has a recent article on F-35 shortcomings that will make you weep.
Cluster Bombs. In 2008, the Defense Department agreed that the USA would cease using or selling cluster bombs in 2019. The idea was that by that time the newer versions of cluster bombs would be such that one or less percent would fail to explode, remaining on the ground to kill or maim subsequent civilians. At the end of November, the Pentagon reversed its policy, stating that any cluster bombs in its inventory could be used or sold to allies.
