FY2017 Defense Budget Request: In Brief (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Feb. 12, 2016 |
| Report Number |
R44379 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Williams, Lynn M.;Towell, Pat |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The Administration's FY2017 budget request includes $619.5 billion for national defense of which $590.6 billion is for the Department of Defense (DOD). Of the DOD total, $523.9 billion covers the base budget, discretionary spending subject to the spending caps established for FY2017 by the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 2015. An additional $58.8 billion of the DOD total is to support Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). OCO funding supports the continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and assistance to Iraqi and Syrian opposition forces. The OCO request also includes $3.4 billion to enhance the U.S. presence in Eastern Europe, referred to as the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI).
The budget request would reduce active-component end-strength of the armed forces from 1.30 million to 1.28 million. The Army would drop by 15,000 to 460,000 (heading toward a planned level of 450,000). The Navy decline is 4,400, largely to reflect a proposal to disband one of 10 carrier air wings. Military basic pay would increase by 1.6%, costing about $300 million less than if military pay rose at the 2.1% rate that is the average in the private sector (according to the Labor Department's Employee Compensation Index).
The Administration has acknowledged that procurement accountsâand aircraft accounts in particularâbore the brunt of DOD's belt-tightening. For example, although the Army's total procurement request for FY2017 was a net of $1.3 billion lower than the amount appropriated in FY2016, the amount requested for procurement of Army aircraft was a net $2.3 billion less than the corresponding FY2016 appropriation. The request funds 63 Joint Strike Fighters (43 for the Air Force, 16 for the Marine Corps, and 4 for the Navy), deferring the planned FY2017 procurement of an additional five F-35As. DOD officials cited this reduction as one instance of a program reduction made in response to budgetary limits. To compensate for the slower-than-planned fielding of the F-35, the budget request includes funds to enlarge and upgrade DOD's fleet of earlier model fighters.
Thus the Administration's budget includes funds for programs that been funded in recent years as congressional initiatives, for instance:
To mitigate a shortfall in the Navy's fleet of strike fighters, the Administration requests $185 million (in FY2017 OCO funds) to replace two Navy F/A-18s lost in combat; and it plans to continue F/A-18 purchases in future budget years.
The budget request would fund two DDG-51 Aegis destroyers for $3.4 billion, two Virginia-class submarines for $5.2 billion, and two Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) for $1.3 billion. The budget assumes the Navy would save $200 million by removing seven Aegis cruisers from service for long-term modernization. Congress has rejected similar proposals in previous years.
The budget requests $900.0 million in FY2017 to keep in service A-10 ground-attack planes that the Administration has been trying for years to retire, over congressional objections. The current plan is to keep the planes in serviceâat a cost of $3.4 billionâthrough FY2022 when they would be replaced by F-35s.
