Pentagon Seeks 13% Weapons Increase as Obama Urges End to Cuts
U.S. soldiers arrive at the scene following a suicide car bomb attack on a European Union police vehicle along the Kabul-Jalalabad road on Jan. 5, 2015.
Photographer: Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Pentagon is seeking an increase of $20.4 billion, or 13 percent, for weapons and research as President Barack Obama begins a push to remove defense budget caps that would force cuts in spending instead.
The Defense Department blueprint for the year that begins Oct. 1 calls for $177.5 billion in procurement and research spending. It includes funds to replenish weapons used in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, from Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Hellfire missiles to tactical wheeled vehicles made by Oshkosh Corp.