Making Sacrifices for the Future

ational security spending continues to rise, but that doesn't mean military planners will get everything on their wish lists. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told lawmakers earlier this year that the department's proposed fiscal 2004 procurement budget-$113.4 billion-includes restrictions on what the military services can buy.

"We did cancel a number of programs that were troubled, to be sure, but also others that were not troubled, but which simply did not fit with our national security strategy," Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee in February. "In a world of unlimited resources, they would have been nice to have. But in a world where needs outstrip funds, we cannot do everything. And something has to give."

Rumsfeld's goal in canceling and restructuring programs is to free up money for his vision of a transformed military that can move anywhere in the world with unprecedented lethality and speed. All told, $24 billion-one out of every three discretionary dollars in the Defense budget-has been earmarked for transformation projects. The funding includes:

• $22 billion for the Army to upgrade existing tanks and infantry fighting vehicles and design its next-generation warfighting platform, the Future Combat System, a family of wheeled ground combat vehicles. The funds would come from killing and restructuring two dozen Army programs over the next six years.
• $21 billion for the Air Force to develop new systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles. The Air Force will retire 114 fighter planes and 115 other aircraft over the next six years.
• $39 billion that the Navy will put toward such programs as the CVN-21 aircraft carrier and the DD(X) family of surface combatant ships. The Navy plans to retire 26 ships and 259 aircraft over six years.

All the services plan to boost spending on unmanned vehicles, seeking to spend a combined $1.4 billion for drones in 2004. The Air Force will spend $614 million on its Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, the Army $86 million on its Shadow UAV, and the Navy $81 million on unmanned underwater vehicles.

Missile defense spending is slated to rise by $1.5 billion in 2004 to $9.1 billion. The money would allow the military to begin building 10 land-based missile defense interceptors that could provide a limited defense against North Korean missiles. By the end of 2005, Defense hopes to begin fielding missile interceptors at sea on naval warships.

Buying aircraft also remains a top priority in 2004. The Air Force plans to spend $5.2 billion for 22 FA-22 aircraft and $3.7 billion for 11 C-17 cargo aircraft; the Marines want to buy nine V-22 Ospreys for $900 million; the Navy will buy 42 F-18 Super Hornets for $3.5 billion; and the Army wants to spend $1.1 billion to develop the Comanche helicopter. The Air Force and Navy will continue their shared investment in the Joint Strike Fighter, spending $4.4 billion for designing the fighter plane.

The Navy is seeking to increase its shipbuilding budget in fiscal 2004 to $12.1 billion, which would allow the service to buy seven new ships, including a new Virginia-class attack submarine, a new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and two combat cargo ships. By 2009, the Navy expects to buy 14 new ships.