Pentagon unveils $583B budget

The Pentagon on Tuesday unveiled a $582.7 billion budget that increases spending on combat readiness, but reduces planned purchases of aircraft, ships and other systems. 

The massive budget aims to strike a balance between funding the administration’s current efforts in Afghanistan and against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria while also setting aside funds to prepare for far-off future conflicts.

{mosads}Overall, the request includes $524 billion for the base budget and $59 billion for war and other contingency funding. 

It includes a $300 million increase in spending for military personnel and a $6.5 billion increase in operations and maintenance from last year. 

The budget proposes more money for current training and exercises for the military services and a 1.6 percent pay raise in 2017, up from the last budget’s 1.3 percent increase. 

It also contains $2.8 billion more in research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) and $200 million more in “revolving and management funds.”

It reduces the military construction budget by $600 million, and procurement by $6.5 billion.

The Pentagon will purchase nine fewer Apache attack helicopters and 24 fewer Blackhawks for the Army; five fewer F-35s for the Air Force, two fewer Ospreys for the Navy; and three fewer C-130J cargo planes for the Air Force. 

It will also purchase four fewer Landing Craft Air Cushion service life extension programs for the Navy; and 77 fewer Joint Light Tactical Vehicles for the Marine Corps. 

In total, aircraft procurement would be reduced by $4.4 billion; shipbuilding by $1.75 billion; other programs by $2.6 billion; and military construction by $1.1 billion. 

The budget requests seven major ships in 2017, including $5.2 billion for two Virginia-class attack submarines and $3.2 billion for two DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. 

It also calls $37 million for an improved MK-48 torpedo and $106 million for unmanned underwater vehicles. 

The Pentagon will pay for two littoral combat ships in 2017, but reduce planned buys from 52 to 40 over the next five years. 

The proposal also includes:

— $10.1 billion for 43 F-35As for the Air Force, 16 F-35Bs for the Marine Corps and four F-35Cs for the Navy. 

— $1.4 billion for continued development of the Long-Range Strike Bomber, as well as $3.1 billion to buy 15 KC-46A Pegasus refueling tankers. 

— $89 million for the Carrier Based Aerial Refueling System, which was previously called the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Air Surveillance and Strike system. 

— $759 million for two Navy MQ-4C Triton unmanned maritime surveillance and patrol aircraft.

— $2.2 billion to continue procurement of the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft. 

— $1.1 billion for Apache attack helicopters and 36 Black Hawks.  

— $800 million for a next-generation shoulder-launched weapon, a replacement for the Army Tactical Missile System and increased firepower for the Stryker armored fighting vehicles. 

— $735 million for 2,020 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and $159 million for the amphibious combat vehicle. 

— $112.1 billion in new technology development to maintain the U.S.’s technological superiority. 

— $71.8 billion for research and development, $45 million for Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, $40 million for a pilot program with In-Q-Tel and $137 million for manufacturing innovation institutes.  

— $6.7 billion for cyberspace operations. 

— $19 billion for modernizing the nuclear enterprise; and $1.9 billion for the Ohio Replacement Program and $13.2 billion over the next five years. 

— $1.8 billion for space launch. 

The proposal postpones retirement of the A-10 Warthog attack jet by two years, which supporters in Congress will cheer.  

Cost-saving measures would include a new round of base closures beginning in 2019 — which will likely be rejected by lawmakers.