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Military budget of the United States

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The United States military budget is that portion of the United States discretionary federal budget that is allocated to the Department of Defense. This military budget pays the salaries, training, and healthcare of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new equipment. The budget funds all branches of the U.S. military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

For 2007, the budget rose to US$439.3 billion.[1] This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance and production (~$9.3 billion, which is in the Department of Energy budget), Veterans Affairs (~$33.2 billion) or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, ~$170 billion in 2007).[2] Conversely, the military budget does allocate money for dual-use items, such as the development of infrastructure surrounding U.S. military bases. Altogether, military-related expenses totaled approximately $626.1 billion.[3]

Budget for 2007

By title

The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2007[4] is: http://wand.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/03/22/discbudfy08_copy_2.jpg

Total funding $439.3 Billion +6.9%
Operations and maintenance $152.2 Bil. +6.6%
Military Personnel $110.8 Bil. +3.7%
Procurement $84.2 Bil. +10.5%
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation $73.2 Bil. +3.1%
Military Construction $12.6 Bil. +57.5%
Family Housing $4.1 Bil. +2.5%
Working Capital Funds $2.4 Bil. +9.1%

Not included in the DoD budget is $23.4 billion to be spent by the Department of Energy to develop and maintain nuclear warheads.[5]

By service

Service 2007 Budget request Percentage of Total
Army $110.3 Bil. 25.1%
Navy/Marine Corps $127.1 Bil. 28.8%
Air Force $130.2 Bil. 29.5%
Defense Wide $73.4 Bil. 16.6%

Programs spending more than $1 billion

The $84.1 billion procurement budget includes several programs with 2008 allocations of more than $1 billion.

Program 2008 Budget request[6] Change, 2007 to 2008
Missile Defense $8.8 Bil. -6.2%
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter $6.1 Bil. +23.0%
F-22 Raptor $4.6 Bil. +15.0%
Future Combat System $3.7 Bil. +8.1%
DDG 1000 Destroyer $3.5 Bil. +2.7%
Carrier Replacement Program $3.1 Bil. +117.7%
F/A-18E/F Hornet $2.6 Bil. -13.5%
Virginia class submarine $2.7 Bil. -1.1%
V-22 Osprey $2.6 Bil. +23.9%
MH-60R/S $1.6 Bil. +3.9%
C-130 $1.6 Bil. +7.3%
Chemical Demilitarization $1.5 Bil. +16.6%
San Antonio class amphibious transport dock $1.4 Bil. +263.5%
Littoral combat ship $1.2 Bil. +30.4%
Stryker $1.2 Bil. +29.6%
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle $1.2 Bil. +33.8%
Space-Based Infrared System $1.1 Bil. +59.9%
EA-18G Growler $1.6 Bil. +56.4%

Comparison with other countries

Military spending as a percentage of GDP

The 2005 U.S. military budget is almost as much as the rest of the world's defense spending combined [7] and is over eight times larger than the official military budget of China. (Note that this comparison is done in nominal value US dollars and thus is not adjusted for purchasing power parity.) The United States and its close allies are responsible for about two-thirds of the world's military spending (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the majority).


Military discretionary spending accounts for more than half of the U.S. federal discretionary spending, which is all of the U.S. federal government budget that is not appropriated for mandatory spending.[8]

In 2003, the United States spent about 47% of the world's total military spending of US$910.6 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The United States spends 3.7% of its GDP on its military, more than France's 2.6% and less than Saudi Arabia's 10%.[9] This is historically low for the United States since it peaked in 1944 at 37.8% of GDP (it reached the lowest point of 3.0% in 1999-2001). Even during the peak of the Vietnam War the percentage reached a high of 9.4% in 1968.[10]

Because the U.S. GDP has risen over time, the military budget can rise in absolute terms while shrinking as a percentage of the GDP. For example, according to the Center for Defense Information, the US outlays for defense as a percentage of federal discretionary spending, has from Fiscal Year 2003 consumed more than half (50.5%) of all such funding and has risen steadily.[11] Discretionary spending accounts for approximately 1/3 of all federal outlays.[12] Therefore, comparing nominal dollar values of military spending over the course of decades fails to account for the impact of inflationary forces, for which military spending as a percentage of GDP does account.

The recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the Federal Budget, so they are not included in the military budget figures listed above.[13] In addition, the United States has black budget military spending which is not listed as Federal spending and is not included in published military spending figures. Other military-related items, like maintenance of the nuclear arsenal and the money spent by the Veterans Affairs Department, are not included in the official budget. Thus, the total amount spent by the United States on military spending is higher.

See also

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References

  1. ^ Office of the Secretary of Defense - Budget Materials
  2. ^ Robert Higgs. "The Trillion-Dollar Defense Budget Is Already Here". Retrieved March 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Global Issues
  4. ^ http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2006/d20060206slides.pdf page 19
  5. ^ http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/archives/002238.php
  6. ^ Department of Defense: 2006-2008 Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System
  7. ^ "World Military Spending". Global Issues That Affect Everyone. 2006-03-27. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Table 27-1. Budget Authority by Function, Category and Program".
  9. ^ CIA World Factbook. "Rank Order - Military expenditures percent of GDP". Retrieved 2006-05-26.
  10. ^ "Relative Size of US Military Spending from 1940 to 2003". TruthAndPolitics.org. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Fiscal Year 2002 Budget". Center for Defense Information. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
  12. ^ Congressional Appropriations: An Updated Analysis
  13. ^ David Isenberg, Budgeting for Empire: The effect of Iraq and Afghanistan on Military Forces, Budgets and Plans
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