The expenses of the US Department of Defense for the 2015 fiscal year will amount to $ 495.6 billion. This is the amount indicated in the budget proposal of US President Barack Obama, sent to American legislators for consideration and amendments. In general, this is $ 0.4 billion less than the military department received in the current fiscal year, and meets all the restrictive norms for the allocation of defense appropriations. In addition, under a federal government program known as the Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, the US president has requested an additional $ 26.4 billion to be spent on keeping troops on alert., the modernization of weapons, the maintenance of military bases and the construction of military facilities. The president's application also indicates that in the 2016-19 fiscal years, the Pentagon as a whole should receive $ 115 billion more than is required by today's standards for cuts in military spending. During this period, the annual requests of the American military department will vary from $ 535 billion to $ 559 billion.
The MoD appropriation request was drawn up on the basis of the provisions of the Quadrennial Defense Policy Review, which lay on the desks of legislators in both chambers of the US Congress along with the draft budget for the 2015 fiscal year (see the "HBO" dated 03/21/14), reflecting everything formulated in In this document, the directions of the construction of the US Armed Forces in the near and long term. The next such review should appear already in 2018.
READINESS, EQUIPMENT AND PROFESSIONALISM OF THE TROOPS
In the submitted draft budget, the main priority is given to financing measures to ensure a balanced state of combat readiness of the national Armed Forces, the required equipping of troops with modern weapons and military equipment (AME), the professional preparedness of military personnel to solve the tasks facing them and decent remuneration for their military labor.
Approximately two-thirds of the requested appropriations ($ 336.3 billion) are to be spent on salaries and benefits for active members of the armed forces, who currently number 1.3 million, to pay for the activities of 800 thousand representatives of the National Guard and the Armed Forces reserve, for the salaries of 700 thousand civil servants, as well as for medical support of 9 million beneficiaries of the military department, both active and retired. This amount also includes expenditures on combat training of troops, on material and technical support (MTO) of military contingents, on maintenance of weapons and military equipment, on administrative management, on payment of housing for military personnel and a number of other expenses of the Ministry of Defense.
The remainder of the military budget ($ 159.3 billion) is planned to be spent on meeting the future needs of the Pentagon, including the modernization and replacement of weapons and military equipment, as well as on maintaining and developing military infrastructure facilities. $ 90.4 billion will be spent on the purchase of weapons and military equipment, $ 63.5 billion on research and development, and $ 5.4 billion will go to military construction.
From the future budget, the Army (Ground Forces - Ground Forces) should receive 24.2% ($ 120 billion), the Navy and the Marine Corps (KMP) - 29.8% ($ 147.8 billion), and the Air Force - 27, 8% ($ 137.8 billion). The remaining funds, 18.1% (89.8 billion dollars), are planned to be spent on solving problems of a general defense nature. This includes allocations for the US Department of Defense's health program, for the intelligence agencies, the missile defense administration, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as well as funding for the activities of many other smaller independent Pentagon units.
The $ 26.4 billion requested in addition to the budget is to be spent on increasing funding for army operations, on material and technical support for the activities of the Navy's aviation and on the training of US Air Force personnel. Some of these funds will be allocated for the implementation of the aircraft modernization program, including an increase in the volume of purchases of the F-35 family fighters entering service with the US Air Force, Navy and ILC, and the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, as well as an increase in appropriations for the modernization program helicopter UH-60M "Black Hawk".
INCREASING GOVERNANCE EFFICIENCY
In order to free up the funds necessary to solve the tasks of the US Armed Forces and improve the efficiency of command and control, in the 2015 financial year, the leadership of the US Department of Defense provided for a number of administrative reforms. This will allow the military department to cut $ 18 billion in this area next year. According to Pentagon experts, the total savings allocated to management will amount to $ 94 billion. At the same time, it is planned to reduce the cost of operating headquarters by 20%, reduce allocations to contractors, deliberately reduce the number of civilian personnel, cut the costs of support units, reduce subsidies for the health care program, and also move the timeline for the construction of military facilities and housing for military personnel.
The US Department of Defense will continue to oversee military budget savings measures that have been initiated in previous years. Expected savings by 2017 include a $ 150 billion reduction in the cost of weapons and military equipment that began in 2012, a $ 60 billion budget cut last year and a $ 35 billion budget cut this year. In addition, the Defense Department is making the necessary efforts to improve its financial reporting and should be fully prepared for auditing by the relevant authorities by 2017. The leadership of the US Department of Defense is also actively pursuing initiatives to improve the structures and processes of arms procurement, aimed at increasing the efficiency of the system for acquiring weapons and military equipment.
The FY15 budget includes a funding request for a new cycle of military base modernization and closure, to begin in FY17. According to Pentagon experts, the refusal of parliamentarians from this proposal of the Ministry of Defense will lead to an unjustified waste of funds on the development of unnecessary infrastructure, which can be spent on modernizing the US Armed Forces and increasing their combat readiness.
COMPENSATIONS
Another area of saving military expenditures and their redistribution for the implementation of programs for the modernization of troops and ensuring the required level of their combat readiness is to reduce the growth rate of increasing the pay of servicemen. In recent years, the income of the military and civilian subordinates of the Pentagon has grown quite rapidly. Pentagon experts believe that at present it is necessary to somewhat reduce their growth and use the funds received to modernize troops and train personnel.
The reduction in the growth rate of compensation will be carried out in accordance with the principles of maintaining contract-based armed forces, maintaining the volume of payments at a level that will allow recruiting new servicemen and retaining servicemen who have already concluded contracts in their workplaces, and providing guarantees to serving servicemen, which they will receive in the future. a stable salary without any cuts. All the saved funds will also be used to eliminate the shortcomings of the training and education system, to the logistics of troops and to improve weapons and military equipment.
On the basis of these principles, with the full agreement of the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the leadership of the American military department made several proposals in the budget for next year. So, for most of the personnel and personnel of the US Armed Forces, the growth of the base salary is limited to 1%. Similar restrictions are outlined for the coming years. At the same time, generals and senior officers in the 2015 financial year are not provided with an increase in pay at all.
A slight slowdown in the growth of housing payments is also planned for the next year. Now, servicemen will have to pay extra for renting housing from their own pockets, on average, up to 5% of the amount allocated to them for these purposes. In addition, the Pentagon will eliminate home insurance payments previously received by the military.
Cutting subsidies to the US Department of Defense trade network for the purchase of industrial goods and food by the military in 2015 alone will save $ 200 million, plus an additional $ 600 million in 2016. Of these amounts, about 400 million are planned to be allocated to military department stores located outside the United States or in remote regions of America. According to experts of the military department, in the future, none of the Pentagon's trade enterprises will be closed. They will continue to be exempt from taxes and rent, allowing them to sell goods to the military at significantly reduced prices.
In FY15, the plan is to modernize and simplify the TRICARE military health program. Its three components will be combined into a single whole. To a small extent, the cost of services that the servicemen previously paid from their own pockets will be increased. DoD's participation in drug and health insurance coverage for retirees 65 and older will also be expanded.
MAINTAIN COMBAT AND DEFENSE FORCES
The leadership of the American military department plans to reduce the number of troops and accelerate the implementation of programs for their modernization. In addition, the Pentagon intends to solve all the problems related to ensuring the combat readiness of troops that have arisen during the waging of wars over the past 13 years and exacerbated by the sequestration of last year.
In accordance with the military budget, the US Air Force is to receive the appropriations necessary to maintain 59 squadrons, including the Air Force Reserve Squadrons and the National Guard, to ensure the elimination of all emerging threats to US national security. Significant funds are planned to be spent on the program of modernization of weapons and military equipment of the Air Force next year. Thus, the request of the Ministry of the Air Force includes $ 4.6 billion required for the purchase of 26 F-35 fighters in the 2015 financial year. In the next 5 years, it is planned to spend $ 31.7 billion on the purchase of another 238 such machines. The Pentagon intends to spend $ 0.9 billion next year to finance the creation of a promising long-range bomber, and in five years this amount should already increase. up to $ 11.4 billion. Next year, the Air Force plans to purchase seven KC-135 refueling aircraft worth $ 2.4 billion, while in five years it plans to purchase 69 more such aircraft for $ 16.5 billion. In addition, in the next 5 years, the US Air Force command expects to spend $ 1 billion to create a new propulsion system for next-generation fighters.
On the other hand, the leadership of the US Air Force plans to remove from service the A-10 attack aircraft, which have been in service for 50 years, and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, which will be replaced by the Global Hawk UAV. It is also planned to reduce the number of acquired multipurpose UAVs "Predator" and "Reaper", and the funds received are supposed to be spent on the creation of a new combat reconnaissance helicopter.
In 2015, the US Navy, in accordance with the Pentagon's budget request, will have to finance the maintenance of 288 ships, but in five years their number is planned to increase to 309 units. The application contains a request for funding programs for the construction of attack submarines, destroyers of URO, as well as floating naval bases. All of these funds are designed to counter the threats to the United States posed by potential adversaries and world terror.
The budget of the Navy also includes 5, 9 billion dollars, intended for the purchase of two submarines of the "Virginia" type. By 2019, it is planned to purchase two more such submarines. Their cost will be $ 28 billion. For the 2015 fiscal year, the command of the US Navy is also requesting $ 2.8 billion for the purchase of two URO destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class (DDG-51). Until 2019, it is planned to purchase one such ship annually. For the purchase of three littoral warships (LBK, originally LCS) in 2015, the US Department of the Navy requested $ 1.5 billion. In the next 5 years, the ministry intends to purchase 14 such ships, the total cost of which should be $ 8.1 billion.
The Department of the Navy also wants to receive $ 3.3 billion from the federal budget next year for the purchase of eight F-35 fighters, two of which are to enter service with the USMC aviation. In total, by 2019, the US Navy plans to purchase 109 aircraft and spend $ 22.9 billion for this purpose.
The command of the Navy also intends to implement plans for a long-term and phased modernization of 11 URO cruisers, which are now in service with them. The upgraded ships will gradually become part of the US Navy, will have broader combat capabilities and have a longer service life.
The ILC in the next financial year for the maintenance and support of 182,700 marines, including 900 fighters who ensure the security of the American embassies, requested $ 22.7 billion.
In 2015, the US Army (Army) will have 32 combat brigades and 28 National Guard brigades of the US Army. Due to the fact that America's military strategy does not provide for the conduct of long-term large-scale wars, in the very near future the number of the Army will be 440-450 thousand servicemen. To create a balanced force, the National Guard and the Army Reserve will reduce their contingents to 335 and 195 thousand people, respectively.
This military contingent, according to the Pentagon, together with the ILC fighters, is able to solve all the tasks formulated in the US military strategy, including inflicting complete defeat on the aggressor in one theater of operations, protecting the continental part of America and providing support for the Air Force and Navy in the second theater of operations. However, experts from the US Defense Ministry believe that the use of troops of this size is associated with great risks if they need to simultaneously participate in multilateral conflicts.
As a result, the leadership of the US Army proposes to close the program for creating a promising infantry fighting vehicle and consider alternatives to this type of military equipment. In addition, it is planned to remove from service the multipurpose reconnaissance and attack helicopters OH-58D "Kiowa" and replace them with the AH-64 "Apache" assault helicopters in service with the National Guard and light multipurpose UH-72A "Lakota" helicopters. The more versatile UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters will also enter service with the National Guard.
For fiscal year 2015, the US Department of Defense is requesting $ 7.5 billion to support the operations of the Missile Defense Directorate. Another $ 5, 1 billion is expected to be spent on cyber operations, which will expand the defensive and offensive capabilities of the corresponding military contingents employed in this area.
The Special Operations Command, at the request of the US Department of Defense, should receive $ 7.7 billion, i.e. 105 billion more than this year. These funds will be used to maintain the required level of combat readiness of 69,700 servicemen of this type of troops, including their training and expansion of capabilities to solve a wide range of tasks on a global and regional scale.
Hearings on the military budget for the 2015 fiscal year are currently being held in the relevant committees of the House of Representatives. Representatives of the top leadership of the four military ministries, the OKNSh, as well as the joint and special commands of the Pentagon speak to the legislators. The highest ranks of the military department substantiate further plans for military development and give appropriate explanations to congressmen and senators. Time will tell what the military budget will be for the 2015 financial year.
