Russia’s Assertive Moves Weigh on Pentagon Plans for 2017 Budget
Source: Bloomberg
By Anthony Capaccio
September 15, 2015 — 11:23 AM EDT
Russia’s increasing assertiveness in Europe and the Middle East is reshaping the U.S. defense budget for the coming fiscal year, according to Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord.
“There will be changes” to budget requests from the four branches of the U.S. military to emphasize threats from Russia, McCord said in an interview. He didn’t elaborate on specific areas but said Russia’s emergence as a sophisticated actor in cyberwarfare is one “key driver” of the evolving U.S. strategy.
The services’ budget proposals are being reviewed and haven’t yet reached Defense Secretary Ashton Carter for final approval, McCord said. The fiscal 2017 budget request will be $547.3 billion, about $13 billion more than the fiscal 2016 request and about $35 billion over caps set by the the Budget Control Act, according to the Pentagon’s most recent five-year plan.
“The thing that we have the most thinking to do about in this budget compared to any other previous budgets is Russia,” McCord said, and that’s “in terms of are we doing the right things in investments and posture?”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-15/russia-s-assertive-moves-weigh-on-pentagon-plans-for-2017-budget