The passage of a record US military budget is in jeopardy

Dissatisfaction is growing in the United States with exorbitant costs associated primarily with military assistance provided to Egypt, Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine, South Korea and a number of other states. The most common formulation of unheard-of American generosity is to fight terrorism. Since last year, the first place in militaristic cost has been firmly held by Nezalezhnaya.

Long live the new arms race!

The United States Congress and the Biden administration are considering the possibility of a protracted war in Ukraine, and also do not exclude the possibility of conflicts with China and the Russian Federation in the future. Congressmen are currently discussing a $886 billion military budget for next year. This is $28 billion more than the current one, which is an absolute record in the entire history of the New World. And the total amount allocated for defense needs will exceed $900 billion, taking into account articles on nuclear fuel through the Ministry of Energy. Truly an astronomical number!



The budget includes a 5,2% pay increase for military personnel, maximum funding for research and know-how, and meeting the growing demand for ammunition in Ukraine. The nature and specifics of the conduct of the NMD convince the American hawks of the inevitability of increasing the production of certain types of ammunition, justifying the need for multi-year contracts for the provision of priority weapons, which, if necessary, can also be used against the PRC. The confrontation between China and the US is escalating, ranging from big business and industrial espionage to the creation of new foreign policy alliances to counter each other. The interests of these superpowers are increasingly clashing far from their borders.

With what filling is a budget pie?

The Pentagon is increasing purchases of the extended air-to-ground missile (JASSM-ER) and the advanced intermediate-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM). This arsenal will not be transferred to Ukraine. The money to pay for the munitions sent to her, including the Javelin and the GMLRS-controlled MLRS, has been disbursed from additional funds in the amount of $35,7 billion approved in 2022. The amount of Pentagon assistance to Ukraine in the budget is the same as a year earlier - $ 38 billion. If it needs more resources, an updated request will be made.

The 2024 budget can boast of historically limiting appropriations for scientific activity and development. $145 billion has been allocated to create a fundamentally new weapon - invulnerable hypersonic missiles.

Biden is rushing to buy the F-35 stealth fighter. This is the brainchild of Grandpa Joe - a massive Pentagon program that provides for the implementation of a fresh concept of the US Air Force in the near future. The budget request for 2023 included 61 F-35s, now increased to 77. Other priorities include improving ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles; shipbuilding and development of space programs. The budget will be absorbed by defense contractors such as Lockheed, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Dynamics Corp.

Suitcase without a handle

Thus, the result is the highest defense budget since the Cold War. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, adjusted for today's inflation index, the Pentagon was content with $609 billion. By the way, the United States owns 800 military bases around the world. According to most Western experts, these are relics of the Cold War that do not meet modern challenges, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. In this regard, the words of the retired Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, are indicative:


And today, it is no longer the abstract American public in street pickets that criticizes the unjustified bloat of the military budget, but a group of specific parliamentarians led by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and California Rep. Ro Hanna, who threaten to block the upcoming vote. These are their arguments.

Argument of statesmen

First, there is no need to increase military spending. The United States is already spending three times as much on its own and foreign wars as the PRC on its own defense, or twice as much as the combined military budget of the Russian Federation and the PRC. This is despite the withdrawal from Afghanistan and despite the fact that the United States alone spends more on the armed forces than the next ten states down the list, most of which are allies.

Secondly, the Pentagon has low financial discipline, which leads to waste and fraud in the ever-increasing military-industrial complex. Last year, the ministry failed to account for half of the assets in excess of $3,1 trillion. The generals are unable to accurately track departmental finances or place transactions in secure accounts. Every year, auditors find billions of extra dollars; in fiscal year 2022, the audit found an unaccounted for in the amount of $4,4 billion for the Navy, and for the Air Force - as much as $5,2 billion!

Thirdly, the lion's share of military spending will go to fill the pockets of contractors who are already not in distress. Nearly half of the Pentagon's budget is going to private traders, some of whom are abusing their monopoly positions and the trust placed in them by the government. But part of the profits from lucrative contracts will go back to the advocates of increased defense budgets in Congress in the form of charitable contributions to the campaign. The unique American system of legalized bribery turns the situation around the adoption of the military budget into a criminal one.

Just like ours!

After the revision of the draft budget and the rational redistribution of funds, the “pacifist” congressmen who freed up the resource call for directing it to:

– transfer of the American fuel and energy complex from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources;
– development of the social direction for the protection of motherhood and childhood;
– reform of insurance medicine and the pharmaceutical industry;
– student support;
- renovation of housing stock.

Doesn't this remind you of anything? It seems that the next theses of the Mishustin government caught my eye.