Last spring when top Pentagon leaders were asking Congress for $686.1 billion, many of us thought it would be the largest U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) budget we might ever see. At the time it was a breath of fresh air, after what seemed like years of sequestration, congressional continuing resolutions, and other sources of uncertainty, things finally were looking up.
Now comes the 2020 DOD budget request, and the news for the nation's defense industry just keeps looking better. The Pentagon is asking for $718.3 billion next year, which is up 4.7 percent over the 2019 request -- promising another record year for U.S. defense spending.
The 2020 budget focuses on technologies like unmanned vehicles and automation; artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning; hypersonic weapons; and directed-energy weapons.
Roughly 40 percent of the entire DOD budget goes for military electronics and related technologies, such as computers, sensors, communications, integrated circuits, electronic warfare (EW), surveillance and reconnaissance, and power electronics. That translates to about $288 billion for the military electronics industry next year.
The electronics-heavy Pentagon budget for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) in 2020 is on the upswing, as well. DOD officials are asking Congress for $104.29 billion for RDT&E projects next year. That's up 8.7 percent from the $95.96 billion DOD researchers received this year. Federal fiscal year 2020 begins next Oct. 1.
Such generous increases in the DOD budget come somewhat as a surprise. There had been reading speculation that 2019 might be the high water mark of the so-called Trump bump in defense spending. Enjoy the moment, Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist told the defense industry last fall.
Tempering speculation on continuing increases in the Pentagon budget were warnings from White House representatives that all defense agencies would be asked to cut spending by at least five percent in 2020, and it was assumed that the Pentagon would not be exempt from this directive.
Nevertheless, money for the military continues to grow, and there's no indication how long it might continue. One cautionary note involves the U.S. House of Representatives, which switched over to Democrat leadership in last fall's elections. Congress now is split -- Democrat in the House and Republican in the Senate, so it's doubtful that increases will be approved easily. They most likely will come through ultimately, however; there are just too many constituents of every lawmaker who would benefit from extra defense spending.
So where's all this money going? Here are some examples: cyber security and trusted computing would receive $9.6 billion next year, highlighted by $3.7 billion for offensive and defense cyberspace operations; $5.4 billion for cyber security; and $61.9 million to modernize the DOD general-purpose cloud computing environment.
Unmanned and autonomous projects would receive $3.7 billion; artificial intelligence and machine learning would receive $927 million; hypersonic weapons development would receive $2.6 billion; and directed-energy technologies like laser weapons would receive $235 million, according to DOD documents.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), one of the Pentagon's premiere research organizations, would receive a 3.8 percent increase in 2020, up from $3.43 billion to $3.56 billion.
Related: 2019 DOD budget proposes $686.1 billion in military spending: largest Pentagon budget ever?
DARPA is asking for $512.4 million for network-centric warfare technologies -- an 18.1 percent increase; $232.1 million for command, control, and communications systems -- a 24.8 percent increase; $163.9 million for sensor technologies -- an 11.7 percent reduction; and $128.6 million for advanced electronics technologies -- a 15.8 percent increase.
U.S. Special Operations Command is asking for $245.8 million for aviation systems -- a 39.8 percent increase; $167.6 million for operational enhancements -- a 62.8 percent increase; $72.6 million for maritime systems -- a 71 percent increase; $68.3 million for warrior systems -- a 9.1 percent reduction; $42.4 million for unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) -- a 6.1 percent reduction; and $20.7 million for the MQ-9 Reaper surveillance and attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -- a 12.5 percent increase.
Missile defense next year would receive $13.6 billion, including $1.7 billion for 37 SM-3 Aegis ballistic missile defense weapons; $1.5 billion for missile-defense studies; $1.7 billion for ground-based midcourse defense; $800 million for 37 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles; and $700 million for 147 Patriot advanced capability (PAC-3) missile enhancements.
There's much more in the 2020 DOD budget. The defense industry can be grateful at least for another year.
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