WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – Officials said the Pentagon just might have to ask Congress for more funds to help Ukraine fight Russia’s assault, including replenishing America’s arsenal for weaponry deployed to Kyiv.
Pentagon officials stated Monday that the $773 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2023 was approved before the invasion, so there is no money set aside for the war. Early in March, Congress passed a $13.5 billion emergency funding package.
It’s too early to say how fast Ukrainian troops will use up the ammo and weapons already delivered, or how much the US would need to replenish what it delivers to Ukraine, such as Javelin and Stinger missiles, body armor, and other equipment, the leaders said.
Despite the conflict in Europe, Pentagon comptroller Michael McCord asserted that the United States still sees China as its most serious adversary.
As the conflict approaches its second month, the United States has deployed forces, aircraft, and other weaponry to NATO’s eastern flank, where countries fear they could be the next targets of Russian aggression. According to the Pentagon, the budget acknowledges Russia as an “acute threat,” with nearly $5 billion set aside to assist European allies and improve America’s capacity to collaborate with them.
In addition, the budget allocates significant funds to high-tech weaponry and capacities to challenge Russia, China, as well as other adversaries. According to ABC NEWS, the initiatives include artificial intelligence and hypersonic missiles, as well as cyber warfare and space-based missile defense and warning systems.
The military and Defense Department civilians will receive a 4.6 percent pay raise in 2023, the biggest hike in 20 years. It also includes $479 million in funding to increase sexual abuse prevention, treatment, and judicial process programmes, as well as the hire of 2,000 people, including prosecutors and counsellors.
The department also wants $1 billion to keep working to close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii, which dripped petroleum into the water supply at Pearl Harbor. The funds will go toward site rehabilitation, continuing needs of impacted families, legal costs, and the creation of alternate fuel facilities for the US military in the region, in addition to the $1 billion previously set aside.
Nearly 6,000 individuals, predominantly military personnel residing in or around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, were ill and sought medical attention for rashes, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms. Furthermore, 4,000 military families were evacuated from their houses.
The budget contains $34.4 billion to speed up upgrading of the country’s nuclear arsenal, mostly following the Obama administration’s lead and extended by former President Donald Trump.
One of the few adjustments was the Biden administration’s move to scrap preparations for a nuclear cruise missile launched from the sea. That programme, which Trump initiated and which many Democrats have condemned as overkill, was still in its early phases of study and development.
Other budget cutbacks include the decommissioning of numerous ships, a drop in the number of F-35 warplanes acquired in 2023 compared to previous projections, and a move to phase out the Air Force’s A-10 assault plane. In the past, Congress has overturned attempts to slash the A-10’s budget.
