Yesterday, President Obama submitted his fiscal year 2015 budget request to the Congress for its consideration along with a summary of the budget highlights. Included in that budget submission was the Department of Defense budget, including a summary briefing, an overview book, a book of program acquisition costs by weapon system, and Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force budget justification materials (although the detailed justification books have yet to be posted). The Department of Defense also released the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to offer its strategic rationale for the proposals made in the budget request. The fiscal year 2015 defense discretionary budget top line is $495.6 billion, similar to what was enacted for fiscal year 2014. The budget request includes an additional $26 billion fund for 2015 called the Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, part of a government-wide proposal by President Obama that for defense is targeted at readiness, modernization, base sustainment, and military construction. $336.3 billion, or roughly two-thirds of the proposed fiscal 2015 budget, pays for current operations and ongoing obligations, while the other third, or $159.3 billion, makes investments in modernization and recapitalization of our equipment and facilities. The budget request includes: - a 20 percent cut in headquarters operating budgets; - a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round proposed for fiscal year 2017; - proposed adjustments to military compensation and healthcare benefit reforms; - 26 F-35As, six F-35Bs, and two F-35Cs in 2015 with a total of 343 Joint Strike Fighters over the five-year Future Years Defense Program (FYDP); - funding for 59 Air Force combat-coded air squadrons; - $900 million in funding for the Long Range Strike Bomber in 2015 and $11.4 billion for it over the FYDP; - seven KC-46 Tankers in FY 2015 and 69 aircraft over the FYDP; - $1 billion over the FYDP for a next-generation jet engine; - a 288 ship Navy in 2014 which is proposed to grow to about 309 ships over the FYDP; - two Virginia-class submarines and two DDG-51 guided-missile destroyers per year over the FYDP; - three Littoral Combat Ships in 2015 and 14 total over the FYDP; - a Marine Corps end strength of 182,700 in 2015; - 32 Active Army brigade combat teams and 28 Army National Guard brigade combat teams; - $7.5 billion for the Missile Defense Agency and $5.1 billion for cyber operations; and - $7.7 billion for special operations, a 10 percent increase over this year’s funding. The FYDP for fiscal years 2016 through 2019 included in this budget request exceeds the current budget caps for those years by about $115 billion. In order for that funding to be appropriated in 2016 and beyond, Congress would need to change the budget caps established by the 2011 Budget Control Act and amended by the 2013 Bipartisan Budget Act.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 21:29:36 +0000
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