The Department of Defence (DoD) is an executive department of the federal US government and is charged with the preservation of national security. It incorporates three subordinate departments, namely the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy –Navy & Marine Corps- and the Department of the Air Force. The major strategic directions for US defence, are shaped within three pillars: protection of the homeland, building security globally, as well as projecting power & winning decisively.
The DoD is one of the few federal entities in the US, where the majority of its funding falls into the discretionary category (other categories are mandatory and emergency programs). Under the effects of the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 and the ongoing withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the United States’ military expenditure has decreased in the last few years (See Chart 6). However, agreements in Congress in 2014 have mitigated the impact of the BCA. Additionally, the conflicts in Iraq and Ukraine slowed down the decline rate in spending on Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). Nonetheless, US military spending is projected to fall further in the coming years, but at a slower pace.
In 2015, world military expenditure was estimated at about $1.7 trillion -1% higher in true value than in 2014- representing 2.3% of the global GDP (same as in 2014). This is the first increase in global military expenditure since 2011. Today, the United States remains by far the world’s largest military spender, despite a decrease in spending of about 2.5% in 2015. More specifically, the DoD’s budget was reduced to US $560.4 billion; $495.6 billion of which comprise the base discretionary budget –reduced by almost $100 million (in 2014)-, $6.2 billion is the mandatory funding –increased by $444 million- and a supplementary funding of $58.6 billion, allocated for OCO.
On a different analysis approach, the US base budget 2015 determined requests, are allocated in the categories as indicated in the charts below. About 40% would be allocated to Operation & Maintenance (O&M), 27% to Personnel, 18% to Procurement and 13% to Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RTD&E).
According to the Department of Defence (TOA) the aforementioned military budget was mostly distributed to the Navy (30%), Air Force (28%) and Army (24%).
Recognising America’s world leadership in terms of domestic economic growth, and the important promotion of US national security interests, the defence budget targets towards the advancement of national security priorities by proposing funding increases above current law, in order to execute the President’s defence strategy. Relative to this, the FY 2016 budget estimates will set the defence spending at 3.1% of the GDP, while the predicted federal budget allocated to defence will reach the 14.3% of the overall 2016 budget. It should be mentioned that the proposed budget reverses the decrease trend of national defence spending of the last five years, taking always into consideration that the discretionary national defence function spending has fallen by 18% since 2010; at that year, military has ended its ground combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In relation to the latter, even though the funding for operations in Afghanistan has decreased in the last five years, the cost per troop on the other hand has reached the very sizable amount of US $ 4.6 million, compared to that of US $ 1.29 million in 2010 (see Chart 8). This significant increase can be attributed partly to the drawdown costs, but more importantly to the ‘accounting’ readjustments that have happened between Congress and the DoD (i.e. the shift of the related funding from the base budget, to the OCO budget).
According to SIPRI data, the last three years, arms imports by the United States have decreased significantly, as indicated in the chart below. The main related imports during the last decade, included Aircraft, Armoured Vehicles and Artillery.
To advance US interests, sustain US leadership and take advantage of strategic opportunities, the government has set as key priorities to: rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region, maintain security and stability in Europe and the Middle East, sustain a global approach to counter violent extremists (including ISIL and al-Qaeda), and finally prioritize and protect technological innovations, while building at the same time relevant partnerships. Therefore, in order to rapidly adapt to the new threats, while maintaining comparative advantage over the traditional ones, the US focuses on the one side, on investing in nascent multilateral forums –e.g. G-20 and East Asia Summit- and on the other side, on strengthening already existing alliances –e.g. with Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines and Thailand. Further to the above, the US aims to deepen its relationships with India and New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
Moreover, to ensure that the US Exports of Defence items and services will not end up in the wrong hands, respective government regulations have been deployed; these include the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), as well as the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
On a different approach, critical investments in training are planned for the next years, in addition to the increased funding for aviation maintenance capacity, as well as the improvement of avionics systems. Moreover, the procurement programs for 57 f-35 jets, 41 logistics support aircraft, 300 helicopters, 53 Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been accounted for, in the FY2016 budget.
In terms of ground systems, the US will continue the modernisation/upgrade of its assets, through Stryker vehicles, Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting vehicles and Paladin 55mm Howitzers. Furthermore, according to the FY2016 budget, focus has been given on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV).
Regarding the air and missile defence capabilities, additional investments have been requested for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles, the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, and the Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance-2 (AN/TPY-2).
Last, but not least, the FY2016 funding will enable the construction of 9 ships –two SSN 74 Virginia Class nuclear attack submarines, two DDG 51 Arleigh Burkle Class destroyers, three Littoral Combat ships (LCS), one fleet Replenishment Oiler (TAO(X)) and one LPD 17 Amphibious Transport dock Ship.
Finally, the growing cyber threats to US interests, obliged the DoD to set up a strategy to confront the high risks that arise every day in Cyberspace -from financial transactions, to the movements of military forces, etc. Under this context, a Cyber Mission Force will be fully deployed by 2018, while relevant programs, including the development of associated equipment, have already been explored –e.g. The Air Force Cryptographic Modernization (VACM) program has been awarded to Raytheon, and will be completed by 2017.