Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal
April 15, 2008
Pg. 14
By August Cole
The next White House must find a way to overcome budget pressures and modernize the military so that it keeps its technological edge, according to a report from the aerospace and defense industry's Washington-based trade association.
In the report, expected to be delivered Tuesday to Congress and the presidential campaigns, the Aerospace Industries Association advocates spending at least 4% of the nation's gross domestic product annually on the Defense Department budget and continuing supplemental-spending packages, "as long as necessary to reconstitute the wartime losses of all the services, especially the Army and Marine Corps."
"It's time to move from a discussion with the candidates focused on Iraq solely" to what is "a looming major challenge for whoever is president," said Marion Blakey, president and chief executive of the AIA.
Years of military operations in Iraq have led many in the Pentagon to see antiguerrilla operations and smaller conflicts as the fights of the future. This has created tension with those who believe the military must not lose its ability to win a more conventional war against a country such as China or Russia, or even well-armed smaller nations.
The AIA represents roughly 275 aerospace and defense companies, ranging from giant contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. to smaller companies that play supporting roles. Defense stocks are strong, and the Pentagon's budget is at historic highs.
But with a change of administration looming and the tab for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan mounting, concern is growing that a peak is at hand. Recognizing the growing fiscal pressure that the next administration will face, the AIA wants the government to find ways to hold down costs for operating and maintaining the armed forces and devote more resources to buying military hardware. The AIA is also concerned that growth in the Army and the Marine Corps will drive nonweapons costs such as health care and training even higher.
For fiscal 2009, the Bush administration requested $515 billion for the Defense Department, with billions more in supplemental funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. That would be approximately 3.7% of GDP. But tough decisions that would effectively shut down production of Lockheed's F-22 Raptor fighter or Boeing's C-17 were postponed for the White House's next occupant.
The AIA suggests that the Pentagon spend $120 billion to $150 billion a year on weapons procurement, up from the fiscal 2009 request of $104 billion, saying that the military's air superiority is in "serious danger" because of age and underinvestment. The group says the U.S. "cannot afford to pull back investment spending as it has done during past postwar defense drawdowns -- the nature of the security environment strongly mitigates against taking such a risk during what may be a generation-long war on terrorism."
The AIA said it doesn't plan to endorse a presidential candidate. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of Feb. 29 defense-industry contributions from individuals and political action committees totaled $307,425 for Democratic contender Sen. Hillary Clinton, compared with the $195,132 received by Sen. Barack Obama. Republican Sen. John McCain had received $227,274.
April 15, 2008
Pg. 14
By August Cole
The next White House must find a way to overcome budget pressures and modernize the military so that it keeps its technological edge, according to a report from the aerospace and defense industry's Washington-based trade association.
In the report, expected to be delivered Tuesday to Congress and the presidential campaigns, the Aerospace Industries Association advocates spending at least 4% of the nation's gross domestic product annually on the Defense Department budget and continuing supplemental-spending packages, "as long as necessary to reconstitute the wartime losses of all the services, especially the Army and Marine Corps."
"It's time to move from a discussion with the candidates focused on Iraq solely" to what is "a looming major challenge for whoever is president," said Marion Blakey, president and chief executive of the AIA.
Years of military operations in Iraq have led many in the Pentagon to see antiguerrilla operations and smaller conflicts as the fights of the future. This has created tension with those who believe the military must not lose its ability to win a more conventional war against a country such as China or Russia, or even well-armed smaller nations.
The AIA represents roughly 275 aerospace and defense companies, ranging from giant contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. to smaller companies that play supporting roles. Defense stocks are strong, and the Pentagon's budget is at historic highs.
But with a change of administration looming and the tab for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan mounting, concern is growing that a peak is at hand. Recognizing the growing fiscal pressure that the next administration will face, the AIA wants the government to find ways to hold down costs for operating and maintaining the armed forces and devote more resources to buying military hardware. The AIA is also concerned that growth in the Army and the Marine Corps will drive nonweapons costs such as health care and training even higher.
For fiscal 2009, the Bush administration requested $515 billion for the Defense Department, with billions more in supplemental funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. That would be approximately 3.7% of GDP. But tough decisions that would effectively shut down production of Lockheed's F-22 Raptor fighter or Boeing's C-17 were postponed for the White House's next occupant.
The AIA suggests that the Pentagon spend $120 billion to $150 billion a year on weapons procurement, up from the fiscal 2009 request of $104 billion, saying that the military's air superiority is in "serious danger" because of age and underinvestment. The group says the U.S. "cannot afford to pull back investment spending as it has done during past postwar defense drawdowns -- the nature of the security environment strongly mitigates against taking such a risk during what may be a generation-long war on terrorism."
The AIA said it doesn't plan to endorse a presidential candidate. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of Feb. 29 defense-industry contributions from individuals and political action committees totaled $307,425 for Democratic contender Sen. Hillary Clinton, compared with the $195,132 received by Sen. Barack Obama. Republican Sen. John McCain had received $227,274.