The Pentagon’s $527 billion fiscal 2014 budget request further deepens the Obama administration’s focus on the Asia-Pacific, better aligning funds with the military services expecting to play major roles in that region/.../
It continues investments in advanced stealth aircraft, such as -35 joint strike fighters and new bombers. These planes play a key role in the Defense Department’s ability to operate in denied airspace. Another aircraft crucial to the expansive Pacific region is a new aerial refueling tanker, the Boeing KC-46A.
“It looks like 2014 was the first year that they really had incorporated that new strategic guidance from the beginning of their budget build,” said Todd Harrison, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank. “I would expect to see more movement like this in 2015.”
The Pentagon’s 2014 budget request seeks $99.3 billion for procurement of new weapons and $67.5 billion for research-and-development projects.
While budgets are often measured against previous years to illustrate changes and show trends, comparisons with the current budget are difficult for several reasons.
Last year, DoD submitted a $525 billion fiscal 2013 budget request to Congress. After more than a year of unprecedented budget negotiations, lawmakers last month passed a $529 billion 2013 defense spending bill through a continuing resolution.
However, after federal spending caps due to sequestration are applied, DoD received only $493 billion.
The 2014 request increases funding for the Air Force, decreasing funds for the Army, and keeps Navy funding relatively flat, which experts say is a sign of increased focus on the Pacific.
“It’s what you would expect with a focus on the Pacific and a greater emphasis on air power and sea power and less of an emphasis on conducting two simultaneous major ground wars,” Harrison said/.../