“Bloomberg” revealed that the total US defense budget in 2024 will exceed US $ 835 billion, which is higher than the US $ 816.7 billion allocated by the US Congress in fiscal year 2023, with an annual growth rate of 2.2% . Of this, $170 billion will be used to purchase existing weapons, while $145 billion will focus on defense, research and long-term development of new modern weapons.
“This budget will be the largest ever in ‘nominal’ dollars not adjusted for inflation,” said a senior US administration official.
The Pentagon is weighing the key factor in the defense budget: Fighting Beijing
Although the weapons provided by the United States to Ukraine used up the inventory of the United States Department of Defense a lot. But military spending to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s opposition to Russian aggression is separate and specifically funded through supplementary funding. Therefore, “Bloomberg” noted that the growing tension between the United States and the Chinese authorities is the main consideration factor for the Pentagon to determine its regular budget.
Overall, the Pentagon sees Beijing as a “speed challenge” and Russia as an “imminent threat”. However, with the recent series of “wolf warrior”-style and fierce roaring threats issued by the CCP authorities against the United States, the US government and the opposition are scrutinizing it carefully. The Beijing regime is likely to become the United States’ foremost adversary.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet will be one of the main weapons systems to benefit from the proposed new US budget, the most expensive weapons system program in US history. The 2024 US defense budget will require $13.5 billion for the acquisition, continued development and upgrade of the F-35 fighter jet. The Pentagon will apply for a total of 83 new F-35 fighter jets for the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to meet the needs of the various services. This includes 48 fighter jets with the US Air Force, and a total of 35 fighter jets provided to the US Navy and Marine Corps.
The new F-35 fighter jets may end up not only getting 83, but increasing. The Biden administration requested 61 last year, but the US Congress added 19 more in this year’s final omnibus appropriations bill, bringing the total number of new F-35 fighter jets added to the US military in 2023 to 80.
In the new US defense budget, the acquisition request of $170 billion is $8 billion more than the US Congress allocated for this fiscal year (2023), while the research and development request is about $5 billion more than the amount approved by Congress. The budget also calls for significant funding for long-range munitions for the US Air Force and Navy that could be used in future conflicts with China, according to a US administration official.
A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget declined to comment on the budget figures. Mark Cancian, a former defense analyst at the White House Office of Management and Budget and now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, assessed that “the Pentagon’s next weapons modernization request (next year) reflects the budget. remains largely focused on developing weapons for future wars rather than procuring weapons for near-term wars.”
“(The new budget) requires research and development spending that will be the highest ever, while procurement funding will equal levels not seen since the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Cancion said.
Elaine McCusker, former acting administrator of the US Department of Defense, said: “(the budget’s) strong focus on procurement will send important demand signals for industry, supply chains and labor.”
“I expect members of Congress to be interested in these topics and what exactly DoD is planning to buy, in terms of volume and the timeliness of when those purchases will reach inventories, units and fleets, ” he said.
