DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: India’s Military Inferiority Complex

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: India’s Military Inferiority Complex

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 24, 2012: Modern India is economically and strategically buoyant, and has every reason to feel confident as the 21st century progresses. So it’s strange to think that this same confident place is developing an inferiority complex over China’s military power.

Never mind that New Delhi just announced a hefty 13 percent defense budget increase for 2012-13, or that the country is now the world’s biggest importer of military systems. Most Indian commentators seem to have digested these two pieces of news by focusing on the downside: that the country’s $39 billion defense budget remains quite modest compared with the $106 billion military budget at China’s disposal.

The critics should bear two things in mind before giving into defense budget envy. First, a 13 percent increase is actually very generous in the context of an Indian economy that’s only expected to grow by7.6 percent in the coming year. Larger increases aren’t only unaffordable but also strategically untenable, as they would alarm neighboring countries.

*Indian officials are preoccupied by China’s growing military power. They would do better to fix their own incoherent defense establishment.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Trefor Moss - The Diplomat

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/03/dtn-news-defense-news-indias-military.html 

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Massive, Technology-Led Military Buildup And Bully-In-The-Neighborhood Stance Fuels Asian Arms Race

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Massive, Technology-Led Military Buildup And Bully-In-The-Neighborhood Stance Fuels Asian Arms Race


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: Chinese Paramilitary soldiers train outside their barracks in Beijing on March 19, 2012. 


Military spending in Asia will top that in Europe for the first time this year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in its annual assessment of the strength of the world's armies.


China leads the way in Asia and is engaged in a modernisation programme of its forces and military hardware financed by its rapid economic development.


http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/ 

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Massive, Technology-Led Military Buildup And Bully-In-The-Neighborhood Stance Fuels Asian Arms Race

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Massive, Technology-Led Military Buildup And Bully-In-The-Neighborhood Stance Fuels Asian Arms Race
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: Chinese Paramilitary soldiers train outside their barracks in Beijing on March 19, 2012.

Military spending in Asia will top that in Europe for the first time this year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in its annual assessment of the strength of the world's armies.

China leads the way in Asia and is engaged in a modernisation programme of its forces and military hardware financed by its rapid economic development.


http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/ 

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Engaging In Military Buildup While US Cuts Forces

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Engaging In Military Buildup While US Cuts Forces

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 18, 2012: An expert on Communist China says the United States could be making a grave mistake by cutting back on defense spending while China is doing just the opposite.

Beijing recently announced a new defense budget of approximately $106 billion, which equates to an 11.2-percent increase. Cheng says this increase coupled with last years 12.7 percent increase means that China is now spending more on its military than all other Asian nations combined. The new budget comes at a time when the Obama administration, despite calling for a higher priority in Asia, is busily reducing the U.S. defense outlay.

While many critics of defense spending in the United States say that it is larger than the majority of the world, Dean Cheng, a research fellow at the Asian studies Center with The Heritage Foundation  says there are key differences between the two militaries.

“the U.S. is a key enforcer of international norms and safety. It is the American Navy, more than any other, that keeps the world’s sea lanes safe. It is the U.S. Air Force that provides space situational awareness, including conjunction warnings, to all other space-faring nations (including China) and manages the GPS constellation to global benefit—both without charge.”

He goes on to note that by contrast China's military budget is spent almost entirely on Chinese interests. While he acknowledges that with China having the second largest economy in the world it is expected that have a substantial military, and that while the Chinese defense spending increases by themselves should not draw alarm, there are other reasons for concern.

Cheng says there are two aspects of Chinese defense priorities that could spell problems for the United States.

The first thing he says is that the Chinese are focused on countering the US military. "So they buy things like anti-ship ballistic missiles -- which really are of use only against things like American aircraft carriers, but not against, say, Somali pirates," he offers.

Cheng says another advantage the Chinese military has is that it is still more of a local military operating near China rather than maintaining a global presence like the US. This means China can put all of its resources up against only a portion of the US military.

He goes on to note the Chinese Communist Party appears to be taking a more aggressive stance not only against US interests but against its neighbors Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. The government has been making claims of sovereignty over the South and East China seas and expanding its forces opposite Taiwan.

China is not the only military United States should be concerned about. While our military is facing the possibility of close to $1 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years and a reduction of up to one third of our military force, Russia is also engaging on a military buildup.

A 10 year, $640 billion military modernization underway in Russia will include 600 new aircraft, 1000 new choppers and an additional hundred ships added to the Russian Navy including 20 submarines.

By contrast, the Pentagon has said it may be forced to engage in involuntary separations to meet troop reduction goals of 67,100 soldiers form active and reserve Army units, 15,20 from the Marine Corps, 8,600 from the Navy and 1,700 from the Air Force as part of $487 in budget cuts. If Congress is unable to reach targeted spending cuts that were a part of the congressional deal reached during last years debt ceiling debate another $500 billion could be cut from the military budget.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/03/dtn-news-china-hikes-defence-budget.html 

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The Defense Budget And American Power

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The Defense Budget And American Power

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 7, 2012: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, other Members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear before the committee today. That is especially true for a Congressional Budget Office alum like myself who remembers well working for senators Domenici and Sasser and others some two decades ago, when the Cold War ended and we were collectively trying to reduce defense budgets responsibly. 

That is again our challenge today. As former chairman of the joint chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, has persuasively argued, federal debt and with it the possible erosion of our national economic foundations have become national security threats themselves. I begin from the premises that the right dose of defense budget cutbacks, as part of comprehensive deficit reduction, can strengthen American power and influence over time. Put differently, it can be the least risky option—accepting some near-term, modest, and calculated reductions in military strength now to help shore up our longer-term economic prospects and with them our long-term national security. 

As I argued in my 2011 book, The Wounded Giant, no great power in history has remained great while its economy eroded. Trillion dollar deficits are not compatible with U.S. economic health, as Brookings colleagues such as Alice Rivlin have convincingly shown, and thus they are not compatible with long-term American global leadership. And as another Brookings colleague, Robert Kagan rightly argues in his new book, there is no credible alternative to U.S. leadership at present. Absent such leadership, the general stability among major powers that we take for granted in today’s world would no longer be such a given, and extremist states such as Iran and North Korea might feel further emboldened to assert themselves aggressively in their respective regions as well. The trick is to get the balance right, and to combine defense budget reductions of the right magnitude and character with other measures of fiscal restraint and revenue increases. 

The Obama administration’s new defense strategy and budget plan, building on earlier cuts made by Secretary Gates during his tenure in office, is a good step in the right direction in my eyes. In fact it gets us, responsibly, most of the way towards where we need to go in defense—even if I would submit respectfully that neither the administration nor the Congress has done as well in regard to entitlement spending or tax reform. As a result of this budget, national security spending would decline from current levels of about 4.5% of GDP to just over 3%. (For comparison, norms were 8 to 10 percent of GDP in the 1950s and 1960s, 5 to 6 percent in the 1970s and 1980s, 3 percent by the end of the 1990s, and 4 percent during most of the Bush presidency). Looked at differently, U.S. defense spending as a share of the global total will decline from about 45 percent in recent years to 35 percent or so, and the American military edge over China might decline from roughly 4:1 today (using Pentagon estimates of China’s actual military spending adjusted for purchasing power parity) to 3:1 within half a decade. 

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/03/dtn-news-defense-news-defense-budget.html

DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China Military Budget Tops $100 Billion

DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China Military Budget Tops $100 Billion

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 4, 2012: China's official defence spending will rise by 11.2% in 2012, pushing it above $100bn (£65bn) for the first time, the government has announced.

Beijing's defence budget has risen each year for two decades to become the world's second-biggest, behind the US.

It is developing an aircraft carrier, a stealth fighter jet, and missiles that can shoot down satellites.

The US promised to bolster its presence in the region last year, in a move seen as countering China's dominance.

Washington, which spends about $740bn on defence each year, already has bases housing thousands of American troops across the region.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says Chinese officials remain wary about growing American influence in the region, and believe Washington wants to encircle China.

'Peaceful development'

China's emerging military might has especially worried its near neighbours.

China has long-running territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan, and has also positioned hundreds of missiles for a potential attack on Taiwan, which it views as part of its territory.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/03/dtn-news-china-defense-news-china.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Budget Proposal Aims to Support Troops, Families

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Budget Proposal Aims to Support Troops, Families

 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 13, 2012: President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal has several provisions for service members, veterans and their families.

According to an Office of Management and Budget fact sheet released today, the budget request includes:

-- $8.5 billion in Defense Department base funding to support military families, from child care and education for military children to counseling and employment programs for the entire family.

-- More than $1 billion through the Education Department’s Impact Aid program to local school districts where a military base may increase the number of students and decrease the property tax base that funds the local schools. Districts educating more than 368,000 children from military families receive these funds.

-- Funding for a 1.7 percent pay raise for service members -- the full amount authorized by law -- as well as a variety of monthly special skill-based payments, enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, and other benefits.

-- About $2.4 billion for programs serving wounded, ill and injured service members, with $747 million of that total to address traumatic brain injury and psychological health needs, such as support for recovery care coordinators and enhanced access to care.

-- $465 million for medical research specifically focused on psychological health, TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder.

-- $259 million for the Labor Department’s Veterans Employment and Training Service, and $8 million for the department’s transition assistance program and grants for employment services to veterans. The budget request ends the Veterans Workforce Investment Program, supporting service delivery innovations through the Workforce Innovation Fund instead. The expanded transition assistance program makes employment workshops more accessible to retiring Reserve and National Guard members, as well as spouses of separating service members.

-- Continuing grants under the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program at a level of $38 million.

-- Expanding entrepreneurship training for veterans and military families through the Small Business Administration’s National Veterans Entrepreneurship Training, a new $7 million program that will train up to 260,000 veterans annually.

-- $278 million for implementation of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. New caregiver benefits and services include training adapted to the veterans' individual care needs, a direct stipend payment and health care and mental health services.

-- Almost $1.4 billion to provide services through the Veterans Affairs Department for homeless and at-risk veterans. These funds will combat veteran homelessness through collaborative partnerships with local governments, nonprofit organizations, and the Housing and Urban Development, Justice and Labor departments.

Earlier today, officials said defense leaders are fully committed to assisting service members and their families.

The DOD budget request provides $1.3 billion in funding for child care space for more than 200,000 children, as well as $1.4 billion for family support centers and morale, welfare and recreation programs. It also commits $2.7 billion for the education of more than 61,000 students at DOD Education Activity schools in 12 countries and more than 33,000 students in seven states, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The request includes more than $50 million to improve public school facilities on military installations.

Military construction funding is set at $9.1 billion, and family housing at $1.7 billion.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/02/dtn-news-defense-news-us-budget.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Italy Widely Expected To Scale Back F-35 Orders

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Italy Widely Expected To Scale Back F-35 Orders

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 12, 2012:  Italy seems certain to scale back its major investment in Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, heightening uncertainty over the troubled stealth jet's future.

Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola has said repeatedly since January that the country's originally planned order of the 131 supersonic warplanes by 2018 was being "reviewed" because military spending cuts were necessary as part of Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity plan to shore up public accounts.

General Claudio Debertolis, secretary general of the Defence Ministry and the country's armaments chief, confirmed to lawmakers on Tuesday that cuts were expected.

"There will be a revision of this Joint Strike Fighter programme to align it with disposable resources," he said.

Italy will ask for about 30 fewer planes, Corriere della Sera daily reported on Friday, without citing its source. Panorama magazine gave the same number on Jan. 18.

Government sources and lawmakers told Reuters that it was premature to say how many of the F-35 fighters Italy will order because of uncertainty over the version of the aircraft designed for short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL).

This version is supposed to replace ageing Harrier jets on Italy's new hi-tech Cavour aircraft carrier.

On Tuesday Monti's Cabinet will examine the Defence Ministry's new spending plan that includes reducing F-35 outlays and personnel cuts, according to a government source. The minister will then detail the package to parliament on Wednesday.

The Pentagon's F-35 program office declined comment on Italy's plans, saying all of the partner countries would meet in Australia in March to discuss their production plans.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/02/dtn-news-defense-news-italy-widely.html