World Weekly | Behind the Surprise US Military Spending | Defense | The United States

This week, the US Senate began reviewing the US defense budget for the fiscal year 2024. Reuters noted that this staggering amount of military spending accounts for almost half of the total federal government spending in the United States. People can't help but wonder: since the US government recently fell into a "debt cliff" due to its high debt burden. Why is spending money like water on military expenses related to war now? This has sparked huge controversy. CBS candidly stated, "The ugly military spending dispute has exposed the toxic political ecology of the United States." What secrets are hidden behind America's astonishing military spending?

According to CBS, on July 18th local time, the 2024 US Defense Budget Authorization Act failed to pass in the first round of voting in the US Senate.

Democrats and Republicans quickly threw the blame on each other.

Speaker of the House McCarthy: The focus should be on the military and not on using taxpayer money to engage in "awakening ideology.". An army cannot defend itself if you train them with these messy things.

Democratic Congressman Bauman: This is a bill that triggers a "cultural war". Its focus is on attacking transgender, black people, women, the DEI ideology, and so-called "awakening ideology".

The term "awakening ideology" used by lawmakers from both parties to attack each other originated from the American equal rights movement in the 1960s, which was originally a slogan for African Americans to resist racism. Nowadays, the left wing of the Democratic Party believes that actively resisting various prejudices and discrimination is a manifestation of justice and progress. But in the eyes of conservative Republicans, "awakening ideology" is too politically correct.

The Capitol Hill newspaper pointed out that the initial budget version submitted for a vote by the House Armed Services Committee was originally expected to receive a large proportion of votes from both houses of Congress. However, due to the addition of multiple additional clauses by the far right party caucus within the Republican Party, the revised defense budget has caused great controversy.

These additional clauses mainly include: the Ministry of National Defense shall not reimburse military personnel for travel expenses incurred due to abortion; Military medical insurance cannot cover the cost of gender reassignment surgery and subsequent treatment for transgender individuals; Cancel policies and institutions dedicated to promoting military diversity. Speaker of the House McCarthy said that the excessive pursuit of diversity by the military would weaken its strength, while Democrats believe that the additional provisions proposed by the far right Republican caucus are a blow to human rights.

According to The Washington Observer, it is precisely the polarization phenomenon in the US Congress in recent years that has affected the US military, which is facing the most serious conscription crisis since the Vietnam War.

According to US media CNBC, in the fiscal year 2022, the US Army only completed about 50% of its recruitment plan for 180000 new recruits. And this year's situation may be even worse.

California Congressman Bill: Those who are interested often come from southern states, where there are many military bases. At least one family member has served in the military, and 80% of active duty soldiers now have a family history of military service.

Army Times reporter Wen Ji: Our current situation is that both right-wing and left-wing individuals are indignant about the life of the military and believe that various problems will arise if they join the army.

According to the Associated Press, the majority of active and retired populations in the United States are conservative white populations, and domestic military bases are also more concentrated in the southern United States. Nowadays, Democrats are implementing a multicultural policy that encourages women, people of color, and other groups to actively participate in the military. Republicans believe that this will challenge traditional conservative military culture, as multiculturalism is reducing the morale and combat effectiveness of the US military, wasting its training time.

US Navy Diversification Promotion Video: How to Create a Safe Space for Everyone, This is a Good Question. A very good approach is to use inclusive language. Don't use phrases like "Hey, guys", instead say "Hey, everyone" or "Hey, team".

In the view of American media CNBC, behind the dismal number of military personnel, many social issues in the United States are exposed.

According to data from the US Department of Defense, only 23% of eligible young people in the United States meet military service standards. According to US law, individuals with a history of drug use and crime are not eligible to enlist, and individuals with obesity, mental illness, and other health issues are also not eligible to enlist. In 2022, over 109600 people in the United States died from opioid overdoses, setting a record high. According to statistics from the National Institutes of Health, the overall obesity rate in the United States reached 42% in 2023, setting a record high since 1980. Among the few young Americans who meet the service standards, only 9% are willing to join the military, setting a new low since 2007.

Engren, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Corporate Public Policy in the United States: Nowadays, Americans' confidence and trust in all institutions are declining. From the police station to the Supreme Court, from churches and organized religions. There are numbers showing that, especially for the US military, the past three years have been a collapse of trust, which is very obvious.

According to data from the US research website STATISTA, in 2022, a survey on "pride in living in America" showed that Generation Z had a pride rate of only 16% towards the United States, far lower than that of baby boomers, Generation X, and even millennials.

According to a poll released by the Center for American Progress in March this year, about 70% of Generation Z respondents believe that "the Middle East and Afghanistan wars are a waste of time, lives, and taxpayer money, and have not made America safer."

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, the US military spending for the fiscal year 2024 is 20% higher than the combined defense budgets of the nine countries ranked below. According to statistics from the Congressional Research Service, in just over 30 years since the end of the Cold War, the United States has launched 251 military operations, far exceeding the total of over 190 years before the end of the Cold War. The US Foreign Affairs magazine believes that "the US has always regarded military hegemony as a core means to achieve strategic objectives.". In fact, this has long been a well-known "secret".

Speaker of the House McCarthy: Cutting edge technology is crucial for the future of the country.

Reuters reported that out of the $886 billion defense budget for the US fiscal year 2024, $842 billion was allocated to the US Department of Defense, while the rest was allocated to defense projects of other agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Energy. The defense budget for fiscal year 2024 accounts for approximately 3.2% of the US GDP in 2024, making it the highest proportion in peacetime.

More than half of the new budget of $886 billion was allocated to US military contractors, with approximately $315 billion divided among the five major contractors of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Thor, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman.

How can I spend so much money? Simply put, it means on one hand, phasing out a large number of old weapons, and on the other hand, vigorously purchasing new equipment.

The US Defense News website stated that the Air Force's plan to retire 310 aircraft in the 2024 fiscal year far exceeds the retirement scale in previous years. Mainly including 42 A-10 attack aircraft, 57 F-15C/D fighter jets, 37 HH-60G helicopters, and 24 KC-10 refueling aircraft. In addition, the US Navy has also compiled a list of up to 11 retired ships, of which 8 were retired early.

The Congressional Hill newspaper noted that the Pentagon plans to purchase up to 83 F-35 fighter jets for the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps on its procurement list. In June of this year, Lockheed Martin claimed that there were issues with the hardware upgrade of the F-35, delaying the delivery of 50 fighter jets. This was the third time that the F-35 could not be delivered on time.

According to VOX News, the F35 has many flaws.

Gilmore, head of the Evaluation Committee of the Ministry of National Defense: Radar is still a problem, sensor information fusion is insufficient, and the performance of distributed aperture systems is insufficient.

Defense Department F-35 Program Executive Officer Bogda: The helmet is too heavy, which is not good.

As early as 2017, then US President Trump complained that the F-35 was too expensive. Atlantic Monthly bluntly stated that the Pentagon has invested over $1.5 trillion in the F-35 project.

The production of F-35 components is spread across 46 states in the United States, directly creating approximately 150000 jobs and gaining widespread support from both parties in Congress. In addition, Lockheed Martin has hired subcontractors from eight other countries to manufacture the components of the aircraft. VOX News Network pointed out that although the US allies who ordered the F-35 complained about the aircraft, no one dared to easily cancel the order because any actions that were detrimental to the F-35 project could harm diplomatic relations with the United States.

Former US President Eisenhower: We must prevent the military industrial complex from intentionally or unintentionally gaining undue influence.

The words of the former US President, who came from a military background and experienced World War II, are now considered highly predictive.

Swanson, the head of the World Beyond War organization in the United States, said he may not be able to imagine that the issue of military industrial complexes would become so huge. This is like the government's annual relief payments to bankers, with over $1 trillion invested in the Holocaust machine each year, accounting for more than half of the federal discretionary spending of the US government.

Over the years, military enterprises have found a way to survive. In the United States, all military orders must be authorized by the US Congress. So, defense giants dispersed their operations as much as possible to more states, in order to control a larger number of lawmakers. According to VOX News, Boeing alone has about 3000 subcontractors in California, controlling hundreds of thousands of job opportunities.

In August 2015, Lockheed Martin acquired Sikorsky Aircraft Company, known for producing the US presidential helicopter Marine Corps One.

The headquarters of Sikorsky Aircraft is located in Connecticut, USA. After the acquisition, Sikorsky has 8000 employees in the local area, making Lockheed Martin the third largest contractor in Connecticut. Back then, Lockheed Martin gained the support of Connecticut Congressman Drola on the condition that all of Lockheed Martin's next-generation presidential helicopter production lines were moved to her constituency.

In fact, many US defense officials "enter as officials, and exit as businesses.".

After retiring from his position as Commander of the Central Command in 2016, the current US Defense Secretary Austin served as a board member for several companies, including Thor; Former Defense Secretary Mattis was a member of the General Dynamics Board of Directors before taking office, but after stepping down from the position of Defense Secretary, he became a member of the General Dynamics Board of Directors again; Another former Defense Secretary, Esper, was a former executive at Thor and joined Epirus, a military equipment manufacturer, after leaving the government.

American sociologist Mills pointed out in his book "The Power Elite" that the American "power elites" who enter and exit the "revolving door" manipulate the state machinery and have various privileges, holding the power of decision-making.

In addition to weapon upgrades, approximately $145 billion will be allocated in the 2024 fiscal year defense budget to increase the US Department of Defense's spending on key technologies such as AI, an increase of approximately 10% from last year.

In February of this year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense announced that its F-16 modified fighter jet, VISTA X-62A, equipped with AI technology, had successfully completed 17 hours of takeoff, landing, and combat exercises without human intervention, becoming the world's first tactical aircraft to rely on artificial intelligence driving.

In June of this year, Biden approved NATO allies to provide Ukraine with US made F-16 fighter jets. Some analysts believe that in recent years, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense has been vigorously developing air combat AI systems, and the US is attempting to integrate air combat AI systems with the F-16.

On July 18th, the United Nations Security Council held a high-level meeting on artificial intelligence and security issues.

UN Secretary General Guterres: I urge the council to come up with measures to control this technology as soon as possible, and approach it with a global perspective and learner mindset.

Guterres called on all member states to discuss and develop legally binding agreements as soon as possible to fully "ban lethal AI autonomous weapon systems" by the end of 2026. Guterres warns that when AI technology is used in nuclear weapons systems or biotechnology, death and destruction can reach terrifying levels.

In the fiscal year 2024, the Pentagon received the largest RDT&E budget in history - research, development, experimentation, and evaluation.

The Defense Innovation Department, a subsidiary of the US Department of Defense, is one of the departments that has received significant RDTE funding. This department is an organization within the US Department of Defense that is used to connect with cutting-edge technology companies in the United States to acquire cutting-edge external technologies.

Former Director of the US Department of Defense Innovation, Brown: We discussed with Ukraine the number of sensors in space, we discussed small drones, and how AI can combine these technologies. These are technologies that we have been researching and are currently being used in Ukraine.

Ukrainian robot unit leader Simi: With the help of quadcopters and satellite data, our unit can deal with homemade explosives and intercepting drones.

According to the "Voice of Germany", since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at least 20 American companies have publicly declared to provide AI technical support for the Ukrainian battlefield.

The name "Palantir" comes from the Lord of the Rings, and in fantasy scenes, "Palantiri" is a magic stone that can help the strong