As the national debt grows to provide relief from the novel coronavirus, the Pentagon will prioritize modernization programs over funding legacy systems if there is a flat budget, Defense Secretary Mark Esper says.
The Pentagon’s top modernization priority is nuclear modernization and it will protect the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, B-21 Raider and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent efforts at all costs.
“My inclination is not to risk any of the modernization program, but to go back and pull out more of the legacy programs. We need to move away from the legacy, and we need to invest those dollars into the future,” Esper told reporters May 5.
Esper was not specific on which programs would be on the chopping block, but said he could identify “dozens” from each military service.
This is where the Pentagon would accept near-term risk, “… but I think that’s important given the trajectory we see that China is on, and we know where Russia may be going in the coming year,” Esper said.
He acknowledged the Pentagon conducts budget planning on an annual basis but that this year it will be “more acute” with the $3 trillion in emergency funding bills Congress has passed in recent weeks related to COVID-19.
“That puts a strain on the economy, so we’re aware of those things and we’re taking that into our planning considerations as well as we consider our [program objective memorandum] and our [future years defense plan] for the coming years,” Esper said.
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