U.S. defense budget to remain relatively flat through 2020, say analysts at IHS Research

HOUSTON, 19 Jan. 2016. The U.S. defense budget will remain virtually flat through the end of this decade, rising at a combined annual growth rate of 1.4 percent through 2020, say analysts at market research IHS Inc. in Englewood, Colo.

"Spending will remain relatively flat through 2020," said Mark Watson, senior research manager at IHS Research at the VITA Embedded Tech Trends conference in Houston on Monday.

U.S. defense spending as a percentage of the gross national product (GDP) also is heading down, as analysts expect spending as a percentage of GDP to decline by 3 percent through 2018, Watson says. Also hard-hit is Pentagon spending for U.S. military space programs. "Space has hit a low point, and will start picking up again in 2017, he says.

One bright spot in the U.S. defense budget involves ground systems, missiles and munitions, and aircraft, which should grow by 13.6 percent from 2016 to 2016, Watson says.

Related: 2016 DOD budget for communications, electronics, and intelligence headed up after two flat years

The Pentagon's budget for projects involving aircraft, mission support, ship building, and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) account for about 60 percent of the U.S. defense budget, Watson says.

For more information contact IHS Research online at www.ihs.com, or the Embedded Tech Trends conference at www.embeddedtechtrends.com.