Military experts have warned of the consequences of US President Donald Trump's plan to cut the Pentagon's 2021 budget.
The Pentagon wants to get warplanes, marches, and ships out of service, although some are less than two decades old, to save billions of dollars to develop and purchase new weapons. Defense officials say those measures are necessary to win a war against China and Russia.
With the presidential election date approaching this year, the budget of 2021 may be the last chance for President Trump's administration to shape the future of the US armed forces over the next decade, according to Defense News.
The Trump administration wants to allocate $ 740.5 billion for defense affairs in the 2021 budget, with $ 713 billion transferred to the Pentagon (1.1 percent less than last year), while the remaining $ 35 billion will be transferred to national security projects overseen by the Department of Energy And the rest of government institutions.
The defense budgets over the past two years have been mainly spent on military readiness, especially training and maintenance of forces. Now spending will be devoted to developing a new generation of weapons, as there will be $ 107 billion earmarked for that in the 2021 budget, while purchases will drop from $ 144 billion to $ 137 billion.
"The budget was on the rise, but now the forces are getting smaller, which is how the new budget will be built," Mark Cancan, a former official in the US Administration and Budget office, told Defense News.
The Defense News report added that under the new budget, if approved by Congress, the Air Force alone will dispatch hundreds of warplanes within the next five years, including B-1 bombers, A-10 attack aircraft, and F-15 and F-15 fighters. 16, 130H cargo planes, refueling aircraft such as KC-10, KC-135K, and Global Hook spy drones, to retire.
This will reduce the number of air fleets, reduce capacity and increase pressure on aircraft without reducing the proportion of supply or training requirements, according to "Defense News".
CSIS defense budget expert Todd Harrison said, "They (the Pentagon) are hurting themselves, because they are ensuring that they will get a build-up for smaller forces in the future by making partial fleet cuts."
"If all the fleets are retired, then a lot will be saved in the budget, and then you can buy a larger fleet in the future," Harrison added.
Lawmakers had repeatedly rejected the US Air Force's request to refer A-10 warplanes for retirement, while the US Navy is calling for four ships to be retired. The US military wants to cancel 41 programs and delay or cut off funding to 39 others, which will save about $ 13.5 billion between 2021 and 2025.
The Pentagon plans to put the money that will be saved from referring old weapons to retirement into new weapons, including supersonic flying weapons, artificial intelligence weapons, and hundreds of new small-sized satellites.
The new budget seeks to allocate $ 29 billion for nuclear weapons, an increase of 18 percent over the 2020 budget, and the funds are to go to the new ICBM program, stealth B-21 bombers, Columbia ballistic missile submarines, and a new computer network to transmit codes. Shooting from the chair to the designated launch kits.
Harrison said that the American forces are moving quickly towards the next stage, so that it is difficult to return to the new government if a new administration arrives.
In the new budget, the Pentagon also wants to allocate $ 18 billion to new satellites, spacecraft, and the strengthening of the recently established US space forces.
The Pentagon wants to get warplanes, marches, and ships out of service, although some are less than two decades old, to save billions of dollars to develop and purchase new weapons. Defense officials say those measures are necessary to win a war against China and Russia.
With the presidential election date approaching this year, the budget of 2021 may be the last chance for President Trump's administration to shape the future of the US armed forces over the next decade, according to Defense News.
The Trump administration wants to allocate $ 740.5 billion for defense affairs in the 2021 budget, with $ 713 billion transferred to the Pentagon (1.1 percent less than last year), while the remaining $ 35 billion will be transferred to national security projects overseen by the Department of Energy And the rest of government institutions.
The defense budgets over the past two years have been mainly spent on military readiness, especially training and maintenance of forces. Now spending will be devoted to developing a new generation of weapons, as there will be $ 107 billion earmarked for that in the 2021 budget, while purchases will drop from $ 144 billion to $ 137 billion.
"The budget was on the rise, but now the forces are getting smaller, which is how the new budget will be built," Mark Cancan, a former official in the US Administration and Budget office, told Defense News.
The Defense News report added that under the new budget, if approved by Congress, the Air Force alone will dispatch hundreds of warplanes within the next five years, including B-1 bombers, A-10 attack aircraft, and F-15 and F-15 fighters. 16, 130H cargo planes, refueling aircraft such as KC-10, KC-135K, and Global Hook spy drones, to retire.
This will reduce the number of air fleets, reduce capacity and increase pressure on aircraft without reducing the proportion of supply or training requirements, according to "Defense News".
CSIS defense budget expert Todd Harrison said, "They (the Pentagon) are hurting themselves, because they are ensuring that they will get a build-up for smaller forces in the future by making partial fleet cuts."
"If all the fleets are retired, then a lot will be saved in the budget, and then you can buy a larger fleet in the future," Harrison added.
Lawmakers had repeatedly rejected the US Air Force's request to refer A-10 warplanes for retirement, while the US Navy is calling for four ships to be retired. The US military wants to cancel 41 programs and delay or cut off funding to 39 others, which will save about $ 13.5 billion between 2021 and 2025.
The Pentagon plans to put the money that will be saved from referring old weapons to retirement into new weapons, including supersonic flying weapons, artificial intelligence weapons, and hundreds of new small-sized satellites.
The new budget seeks to allocate $ 29 billion for nuclear weapons, an increase of 18 percent over the 2020 budget, and the funds are to go to the new ICBM program, stealth B-21 bombers, Columbia ballistic missile submarines, and a new computer network to transmit codes. Shooting from the chair to the designated launch kits.
Harrison said that the American forces are moving quickly towards the next stage, so that it is difficult to return to the new government if a new administration arrives.
In the new budget, the Pentagon also wants to allocate $ 18 billion to new satellites, spacecraft, and the strengthening of the recently established US space forces.
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