FAQs

  1. Most major systems are 30-50 years old

                                                       Credit: Heritage Foundation

    • Grandchildren of Air Force veterans are flying the same B-52 bombers that their grandparents did.
    • Today America flies the same basic planes (F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 fighters; B-52, B-1 and B-2 bombers), sails the same basic ships (Los Angeles-class attack submarines, Aegis destroyers, Nimitz-class air craft carriers) and employs the same basic ground systems (Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, Black Hawk and Apache helicopters) that it did at the end of the Cold War.
  1. Defense is not the source of Fiscal Woes                                                                                       Credit: Heritage Foundation
    • Defense spending stands at 3.9% of GDP, as opposed to 9.5% in the 1960s and 6.2% in the 1980s.
      • The majority of Americans think it is roughly 20% of GDP
    • The Obama administration’s 5 year budget projection has the defense budget decreasing by 13% from 2011 in real dollars, while Medicare increases by 17% and Social Security increases by 16%.
      Credit: Heritage Foundation, The FY 2012 Defense Budget Proposal
    • A 10% cut from defense annually, amounts to $50 billion annually out of a $1.6 trillion budget and would be catastrophic for readiness.
      i. Conversely, 10% from entitlements would amount to $240 billion
    • Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has stated that further defense cuts would have “devastating effects on our national defense…very simply it would result in hollowing out the force”
    • The Pentagon accounts for only 1/3 of federal outlays but would have to absorb half the reductions, with military pay exempt, if we enter sequestration as part of the debt ceiling deal.
    • According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the estimated savings from the sequester will postpone by only two years the date when publicly-held debt surpasses 100 percent of GDP.
  1. Over lifecycles, new systems are more affordable than maintaining old ones
    • F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will require 30% fewer maintenance personnel in the Marine Corps
    • The Global Hawk UAV requires a crew of less than 1/3 of the U2 surveillance plane to perform similar functions
  1. The military is not bloated or oversized.
                                                                                       Credit: Heritage Foundation

    • The Navy Has the smallest number of ships since 1916.
    • The Air Force has the smallest number of air craft and bases since its founding in 1947.
    • Our active duty military is two-thirds the size it was in the 1980s, despite fighting two wars.
  1. A smaller military would lead to vulnerabilities in responding to challenges around the world
    • At current levels, US would find it extremely difficult to respond to a North Korean threat and continue operations in Afghanistan and maintain sufficient response forces in the greater Middle East region.
    • Within Asia, China’s military buildup and advanced technological developments threaten America’s ability to project power in the Western Pacific.
    • North Korea and Iran continue to pose significant risks, with both countries proceeding with ballistic missile and nuclear programs
    • Russia is continuing to exert influence on former Soveit bloc states
    • Turkey is drifting toward a more Islamic foreign policy.
    • The Obama administration seeks to implement a “minimal deterrence posture,” which is simply not enough. We must adopt a protect-and-defend posture.
    • Over the next decade, China will field a number of combat systems that are “on par with” or will “exceed global standards.”
  1. Economic Prosperity Depends on a strong national defense
    • Waterborne goods contribute over $742 billion to the US economy and employ 13 million workers.  Disruption to these trade routes, and lack of an adequate navy to defend them would spell economic disaster.
      • Canceling major maintenance could also affect another 1,300 jobs in addition to causing increased  repair costs in the future.
    • Current spending plans for defense in the Navy alone, have jeopardized 90 construction projects in 13 states, threatened up to 7,300 private-sector jobs.