CSBA in the News

Military leaders have adapted US strategy as the Pentagon faces major budget cuts, but experts fear the new plans could be shattered due to the threat of automatic financial reductions/…/

After a furor over ship and submarine inspection failures in 2008, Navy brass later that year imposed a blackout on readiness reports, an action that officials maintained was for security concerns and wholly unrelated to the string of failures. The blackout continues to this day/…/

The prospect of $600 billion in automatic defense cuts could drive an increasing number of smaller defense firms out of the industry — or out of business altogether. A rise in defense firms merging, moving into commercial industries and going out of business are all likely scenarios, industry groups and budget analysts say.

Military retiree benefits cost the Pentagon $50 billion a year. That’s more than next year’s entire budget for the Department of Homeland Security. There are 1.9 million military retirees drawing pay and benefits, compared to 1.5 million in the active duty force. In 2010, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates said those costs are “eating the Defense Department alive.”

The severe defense spending cuts triggered by the failure of the deficit-reduction supercommittee have U.S. allies worried about the fallout.

With the congressional supercommittee’s failure to reach a deficit deal likely triggering roughly $1 trillion in defense spending cuts over the next decade, the battle is beginning over what exactly to put on the chopping block.