Summary:
According to DoD, multiyear contracts provide a consistent manufacturing flow while saving money on aircraft and ship programmes.
According to officials, the Pentagon is requesting $30.6 billion from Congress for munitions in the fiscal year 2024, an increase of $5.8 billion from the fiscal year 2023 request.
According to the senior DoD official, the Patriot missile defence system, the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, and 155 ammo are among the weaponry being provided to Ukraine.
The budget plan, according to the person, “is a good first step,” but DoD expects to “fill out” the initiative in the next year.
In addition to munitions, the Pentagon’s budget request includes $145 billion for procurement and $170 billion for research, development, technology, and engineering—the highest investments ever—and $37.7 billion to modernise the nuclear triad.
According to DoD, multiyear contracts provide a consistent manufacturing flow while saving money on aircraft and ship programmes. The industry would have a better idea of how many weapons the DoD intends to purchase if those same contracts were used, enabling major defence contractors to bargain for huge orders from their suppliers.
“That’s sort of what brought this to a little bit of a head, was people looking at what’s happening in Ukraine and saying ‘aha,’ maybe we need to need to have a healthier munitions industrial base for ourselves beyond what’s happening in Ukraine,” said one senior Defense Department official, who spoke anonymously to discuss the budget before it was released.
According to officials, the Pentagon is requesting $30.6 billion from Congress for munitions in the fiscal year 2024, an increase of $5.8 billion from the fiscal year 2023 request. This includes billions of dollars for ammunition, tactical and strategic missiles, and technology development. This calls for lawmakers to support multiyear purchases and increase the growth of powerful air and sea-based missiles that would be utilised in direct conflict with a technologically advanced foe like China.
The official stated that the heated war in Ukraine is “informing and pressuring” the strategy, although most of these weapons are not now headed to Kyiv. Although there is a small sum in the base budget for the yearly Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the Department of Defense hopes to finance its support for the conflict mainly through additional legislation authorised by Congress.
The official explained, “What we’re doing, though, you’ll see the emphasis here is slightly different, right? These are for the larger strategy for a higher-end war. “These aren’t ground weapons,”
Before the budget release on Monday morning, Kathleen Hicks, the deputy defence secretary, praised the modifications to reporters.
“We’re looking to make unprecedented use of the new multiyear procurement flexibility provided by Congress for several of these and more critical munitions to lock in crucial investments and get the most value for taxpayers, to send industry a clear, stable demand signal, and to be even better prepared to respond quickly to future contingencies.
Make no mistake: We are purchasing munitions up to the limitations of our industrial base, even as we are extending those boundaries. And we’re still reducing red tape and speeding up timetables,” she continued.
According to the senior DoD official, the Patriot missile defence system, the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, and 155 ammo are among the weaponry being provided to Ukraine. DoD is planning to implement the same methods for these systems as well. Nevertheless, the official added that more needs to be done on that front, including assuring the industry that the demand will persist beyond the Ukraine crisis and submitting the paperwork to Congress.
“What we’re looking for is, can we increase capacity in ways that communicate to an industry that this is not just a small, you know, short-term blip because of Ukraine?” the person added. “This is the standard issue with industry that we have. The boards of these corporations want to know what is included in the five-year plan. They request contracts.
The budget plan, according to the person, “is a good first step,” but DoD expects to “fill out” the initiative in the next year.
It can’t be finished in a single day, the source stated.
In addition to munitions, the Pentagon’s budget request includes $145 billion for procurement and $170 billion for research, development, technology, and engineering—the highest investments ever—and $37.7 billion to modernise the nuclear triad.
The budget includes $11 billion for hypersonic and long-range subsonic missiles, $29.8 billion for “missile defeat and defence,” $33.3 billion for space activities, $13.5 billion for cyberspace activities, and $9.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.
Hicks saw how much the budget focused on China.
She said, “Today is not the day,” and we want the PRC leadership to believe that both today and every day between now and 2027, now and 2035, now and 2049 and beyond. This is our ultimate goal and the metric we use most frequently here.
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