State of Play
Legislative: Last
Friday, the House passed its annual defense authorization bill (NDAA), which
would authorize $642 billion in national security funding, roughly $4 billion
above the President’s FY13 request.
Several amendments were offered to the NDAA that resemble
recommendations put forth in a new report, Defense Sense,
authored by defense analysts at PDA and the Cato Institute. These include amendments offered by Rep. John
Conyers (D-MI) to eliminate the Marine Corps variant of the F-35, by Rep.
Barbara Lee (D-CA) to reduce by roughly $8 billion the amount authorized by the
bill, and by Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) to withdraw all Army brigades from Europe
and replace them on a rotational basis.
Interestingly, a new
poll conducted by Rasmussen shows that a slim majority of Americans support
removing all U.S. troops from Europe.
Notably, the House version of the NDAA would block additional
reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, prevent the administration from
retiring certain aircraft and naval vessels, calls for the construction of an
East Coast-based missile defense shield, prohibits the administration from
implementing TRICARE reforms, and limits the ability of the Defense Department
to enact end-strength reductions. The
legislation also includes an amendment
that would prevent the sequestration of defense funds if Congress is able to
replace it with commensurate savings. The
White House has issued a veto
threat over the House NDAA for many of the aforementioned reasons, and has
also come out in opposition to the House Appropriations Committee’s defense
spending bill, which would provide $607.7 billion for national security
programs. The House defense
appropriations bill is expected to hit the Floor sometime this summer.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is marking up its own version
of the NDAA, largely behind closed doors, this week. Last week, Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) voiced his
intention to keep the NDAA’s authorization in line with the Budget Control
Act’s spending caps, saying
“My intent to try to hold the line on the spending limit because that's what
the law last year set.” However, a
spokesperson for Levin told Morning Defense that the committee
is “marking to the president’s numbers,” which means it will likely be above
the BCA spending caps by $4 billion. A
full committee vote on the measure is expected by week’s end. Meanwhile Levin and Ranking Member John
McCain (R-AZ) have
directed GAO to audit the Pentagon’s “military information support
operations,” commonly referred to as propaganda, due to concerns about its cost-effectiveness
and utility.
CBO has released a new
economic forecast, which predicts that, under current law, the expiration
of the Bush-era tax cuts as well as other expiring tax provisions combined with
deficit reduction efforts implemented by the Budget Control Act could shrink
the economy by 1.3 percent next year and result in increased unemployment. Secretaries Panetta and Clinton and Joint
Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey testified before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee this week in support of ratification of the Law of the Seas
Treaty, during which Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) said that he intends to bring
the treaty to the Senate Floor during the lame duck session after the November
election.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on foreign operations has approved
its annual spending bill that would provide $52.1 billion for the State
Department and related agencies, a roughly $2.6 billion cut from the
President’s budget request. If the
Budget Control Act’s security/non-security caps are restored, as the President
has requested, a lower funding amount for the State Department and related
agencies could free up additional funding for the Pentagon. For more on the foreign operations spending
bill from Russell Rumbaugh of the Stimson Center, click
here.
Executive: The
United States hosted a NATO summit in Chicago this weekend during which member
nations endorsed handing over control of military operations to Afghanistan
next year. The Obama administration has
been trying for months now to reopen supply routes from Pakistan into
Afghanistan, however right before the NATO summit convened; Pakistan announced
that it would only reopen the supply routes at a cost of $5,000 per truck, a
figure which the United States calls too high. The White House attempted to reduce the fee, but
its effort proved unsuccessful.
Pakistan’s refusal to reopen the supply routes without the hefty fee could
seriously complicate efforts by the United States to withdraw large amounts of
military hardware from Afghanistan next year.
The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, has announced
his retirement after less than a year in the post due to health
reasons. Crocker’s retirement could
complicate the expected transfer of the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan,
Gen. John Allen, to the Supreme Allied Commander post in Europe.
This week, the Pentagon released its annual report to
Congress on military developments in China.
The report asserts that China spent $180 billion on its military buildup
last year, is two years behind schedule on development of its new stealth
fighter jet, may be developing its own domestically-produced aircraft carrier,
and has made considerable investments in new ballistic missile
technologies.
On Monday, the Cato Institute hosted a panel discussion
with Under Secretary of the Navy Robert Work, as well as experts from Cato, CBO,
and POGO, during which Work confronted criticism over the Littoral Combat Ship
(LCS) program and discussed the future of the Navy’s surface fleet. Work pointed out that the two different
designs of the LCS were essentially two separate “classes” of ships while
noting that the three different variants of the F-35 were also three completely
different aircraft (contrary to popular belief), ““[The] F-35A is as different
from the F-35B as LCS 1 is from LCS 2.” The
Center for a New American Security has released a new
report that advocates military spending reductions of $500-550 billion over
ten years relative to current law funding levels (FY12 enacted
appropriations). The report argues that
in order for the United States to achieve “sustainable pre-eminence,” it must
make sensible reductions that enhance efficiency, including reduced procurement
of the F-35 and Littoral Combat Ship.
Project on Defense Alternatives
Perspective: The House missed an important opportunity last week to set the
Pentagon’s budget on a more sustainable path and adhere to the budget agreement
they passed last August when the chamber voted down several amendments that
would have cut funds for excessive weapons development and procurement.
An amendment offered by Rep. Barbara Lee to reduce the NDAA’s topline by $8
billion and bring it in line with the BCA caps received broad support including
16 Republican votes, but failed to win the majority by a vote 170-252. Defense
Sense, a new report by analysts at PDA and the Cato Institute, provides
18 options for defense spending reductions in FY13 that could easily keep the
Pentagon’s budget within legislated caps. The House version of the NDAA
confirms that the chamber is avoiding its responsibility to prepare for a
viable compromise that will be required for a stable alternative to
BCA-mandated sequester of Pentagon funds beginning early next year.
Further defense cuts must be part of such a compromise.
Highlights
Battleland: The
F-35: Super Plane for Super Cruise
Ben Freeman discusses the pseudo-celebrity nature of the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter (which is expected to make a cameo in the new Top Gun sequel) and notes that the
controversial program is expected to cost about $160 million per plane, more
than double the original cost estimate. Freeman
proposes replacing the two most expensive variants of the F-35 with tried and tested
FA-18 E/F Super Hornets, which would save hundreds of billions of dollars. (5/17/12)
Gordon Adams argues that despite rhetoric from both the Romney
campaign and Republicans in the House, economic woes will override efforts to protect
defense budgets. Adams also discusses
the irony that, at a time when the American public wants to reduce its global
military footprint, the military is looking at expanding its global policing
operations via increased use of special operations forces. (5/17/12)
Other News and Commentary
AOL Defense: Why
Doesn't The F-35 Program Follow The Rules?
Rep. Todd Akin (R-MI) discusses an amendment he offered last week
that would wall off half of the funding for the F-35 in FY13 unless the
Pentagon can certify an initial operational capability (IOC) date for the
aircraft. Akin is concerned that “To
date, the only major defense acquisition program to not have an IOC date
established this far into the program is the F-35,” and bemoans the fact that
his amendment was rejected by HASC in favor of watered-down version. (5/23/12)
Washington Post: Retired
Gen. James Cartwright offers a fresh view on defense
During a speech last week, former Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James Cartwright, echoed sentiments previously expressed
by Gordon Adams regarding current proposed reductions in military spending
compared to past drawdowns. Cartwright
pointed out that the $480 billion in reductions that the administration has
endorsed constitutes a roughly 10 percent decrease in military spending, but
that past drawdowns have seen an average reduction of around 20 percent.
(5/22/12)
House Republicans are stuck in a Cold War-mode of thinking
according to Robert Gard and Kingston Reif, who cite House passage of the NDAA,
which “includes hundreds of millions of dollars in unneeded funding for nuclear
weapons programs that U.S. military leaders did not ask for.” The authors maintain that increased funding
for nuclear weapons could impede and possibly undermine the New START treaty.
Specifically, the House version of the NDAA would add $320 million for construction
of a new plutonium facility and would require the Navy to maintain twelve
active nuclear ballistic missile submarines, which the Navy says is
unnecessary. (5/21/12)
Battleland: House
Pushes for East Coast Missile Shield
Mark Thompson points out that the $3.7 billion dollar discrepancy
between the administration’s FY13 defense budget request and the House spending
bills is “just about the same amount [that] an East Coast missile shield will
cost over the next five years.” The
House has called for an East Coast-system to be in place by 2016, even though neither
Iran nor North Korea is capable of striking U.S. soil with ballistic missiles. (5/21/12)
Defense News: U.S. Army
to House: We Have Enough Vehicles
The House-passed version of the NDAA would almost double the
Army’s request for funding for the M2 Bradley fighting vehicle in a move
intended to “mitigate risk to the industrial base.” The Army has requesting funding for modernization
and upgrades to the Bradley, even though Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno
has said that efforts aimed at improving the Bradley’s survivability haven’t “done
very well.” (5/19/12)
New York Times: Earmark
Puts $17,000 Pans on Army Craft
Due to a 2009 Congressional earmark sponsored by House Appropriations
Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY), the Army continues to purchase drip pans for its
Black Hawk helicopters at $17,000 a piece, even though another company offers
the same equipment at a cost of $2,500 per item. Phoenix Products, the firm that received the
2009 earmark, has made frequent donations to Rogers’ campaign. Coincidentally, Rogers has directed $17
million in contracts to the company since 2000. (5/18/12)
National Defense: Military’s
‘Pivot to Asia’ Stuck in Neutral
Some have criticized the Obama administration’s Asia Pivot for
antagonizing China on the one hand while failing to bolster shipbuilding on the
other. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) believes the United States should not seek a new
Cold War in Asia that forces countries to choose between it and China, and
instead should focus on strengthening economic relationships within the region:
“The bottom line is that America’s long-term strategic and economic success
requires an ambitious trade strategy in Asia,” says McCain. (5/17/12)
Reports
Congressional Research Service: Intelligence Authorization
Legislation: Status and Challenges (5/21/12)
Center for a New American
Security: Sustainable
Pre-eminence Reforming the U.S. Military
at
a Time of Strategic Change (May,
2012)
Office of the Secretary of
Defense: Annual Progress Report to Congress: Military and Security
Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2012 (May, 2012)
Center for National Policy: NATO Strategy in Afghanistan:
A New Way Forward (May, 2012)
Compiled and submitted by:
Ethan R. Rosenkranz and Abney Boxley
Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA)
http://www.comw.org/pda/
202-316-7018
Ethan R. Rosenkranz and Abney Boxley
Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA)
http://www.comw.org/pda/
202-316-7018
