The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has approved an additional $45 billion to augment the military budget for 2023, as reported by Military Times. The broader defense outlay for 2023 is projected to reach $847 billion, with funds allocated for a 4.6% pay raise for military and civilian personnel, procurement of new aviation, naval, and ground equipment, ammunition, and support for Ukraine.
The plan also covers the cost of pursuing a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile that the Biden administration suggested abandoning, including ongoing maintenance. Twelve Navy ships were slated for removal from the fleet under prior planning. The package includes continued work on the free-fall atomic bomb B83, which has a yield of up to 1.2 megatons and was slated for removal from combat duty following presidential direction.
Former Director of the U.S. National Defense Center at the Heritage Foundation, retired Lieutenant General Thomas Speer, stated that the U.S. military has been underfunded and that funding shortfalls are harming multiple facets of national defense. Speer argued that most military programs have not kept pace with inflation, forcing reductions in training standards, the active force, and military construction activity to historic lows, while also constraining funding for many new weapons development projects.
Speer added that the total financial losses attributed to military activity since 2020 are approximately $46 billion. Despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, no increase in the defense budget for 2023 is anticipated in his view, though policies and funding levels remain a subject of ongoing debate among lawmakers and defense analysts.