NYT editorial: The Pentagon Meets the Real World
Many crucial details are missing from the military budget released last week by the Obama administration. But the initial signs are encouraging.
After adjusting for inflation, the basic Pentagon budget will rise by roughly 2 percent to $534 billion, with $130 billion more to pay for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (down from this year’s expected $141 billion). The administration also plans to accelerate the expansion of the Army and the Marine Corps and increase pay for service members — both much needed moves.
How much the expansion and pay increases will cost will not be known until the full budget is released in April. What is already clear is that to stay within the $534 billion ceiling, the Pentagon will have to finally face the real world and make cuts in expensive and outdated cold-war weapons systems. President Obama and his advisers have a few more weeks to figure out which weapons to cut. But we are ready now with suggestions.
We would start by killing off the Air Force’s F-22 fighter and the Navy’s DDG-1000 stealth destroyer. We would also scale down the Army’s Future Combat Systems and hold back the deployment of unproven missile defense systems. Those four steps could save well over $10 billion a year. Billions could be saved by halting construction of unnecessary attack submarines, and dropping the Marines’ troubled tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft.
(More here.)
After adjusting for inflation, the basic Pentagon budget will rise by roughly 2 percent to $534 billion, with $130 billion more to pay for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (down from this year’s expected $141 billion). The administration also plans to accelerate the expansion of the Army and the Marine Corps and increase pay for service members — both much needed moves.
How much the expansion and pay increases will cost will not be known until the full budget is released in April. What is already clear is that to stay within the $534 billion ceiling, the Pentagon will have to finally face the real world and make cuts in expensive and outdated cold-war weapons systems. President Obama and his advisers have a few more weeks to figure out which weapons to cut. But we are ready now with suggestions.
We would start by killing off the Air Force’s F-22 fighter and the Navy’s DDG-1000 stealth destroyer. We would also scale down the Army’s Future Combat Systems and hold back the deployment of unproven missile defense systems. Those four steps could save well over $10 billion a year. Billions could be saved by halting construction of unnecessary attack submarines, and dropping the Marines’ troubled tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft.
(More here.)
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