Global Military Spending - NEWS ONLY

[GTX]

Australia boosts defense spending to 'transform' military

Defense minister says a more focused, integrated military force needed

asia.nikkei.com

See more specifics here: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/australian-defence-strategic-review.40723/post-672173

 

[GTX]

A quick summary may also be found here

 

[Forest Green]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1780619788005396621

View: https://x.com/defense_news/status/1780619788005396621

 

[Grey Havoc]

Ukraine can’t hold lines without ‘rapid resumption’ of US aid: Think tank

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warned Russia is gaining the initiative on the battlefield and that Ukraine “cannot hold the present lines now without the rapid resumption” of …

thehill.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Navy has spent nearly $1B in Middle East, including against Houthi threat, secretary says

U.S. naval forces have spent nearly $1 billion in the Middle East, including on efforts to fend off drone and missile attacks from the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del…

thehill.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Air Guard changes in Alaska could affect national security, rescue ops

Staffing changes in the Alaska Air National Guard may hurt the organization's ability to secure America's western airspace and carry out rescue operations.

www.militarytimes.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Albania courts NATO investors to revive Soviet-era munitions plants

Tirana officials are already working with the alliance to determine scale of required investments and product types to be manufactured at three sites.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Welcome to the jungle – the new Cold War era of investing is upon us

The Stock Market Sceptic: deglobalisation and rearmament will reshape the economy

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Forest Green]

US House approves long-awaited $61 billion Ukraine aid package

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives on Saturday quickly passed legislation to provide military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and to ban TikTok if it fails to divest from its Chinese parent…

www.france24.com

The bill also allows Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets and provide the money to Ukraine to finance reconstruction, a move that has been embraced by other G7 nations.

 

[Grey Havoc]

The bill also allows Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets and provide the money to Ukraine to finance reconstruction, a move that has been embraced by other G7 nations.

I suspect that that will end up backfiring badly in the long term.

 

[Forest Green]

Global military spending hits 'all-time high' of $2.4 trillion: SIPRI report - Breaking Defense

The US remains the world’s largest defense spender, outlaying $916 billion last year, a 2.3 percent annual increase, ahead of China in second place, which spent an estimated $296 billion, a 6 percent increase over the same period.

breakingdefense.com

I suspect that that will end up backfiring badly in the long term.

Nah. The rather extreme conditions surrounding it are unlikely to shake faith in the dollar (because frankly they're not relevant to the vast majority), and no other potential currency vendors would behave differently in the same circumstances.

 

[Forest Green]

UK government unveils $620 million top-up in Ukraine military aid

Officials in London have billed the latest package as the largest single British delivery of weapons to Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion.

www.defensenews.com

 

[bobbymike]

Closely following defense technology for 40+ years it seems I’ve seen this cycle 20 times. First US must invest in advanced defense technology to maintain military edge over adversaries (or something close to this) followed by:

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2024/4/24/emerging-technology-horizons-defense-budget-request-shortchanges-emerging-tech?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHfjy-DS9ZvB5kI42Oi1N_kL5bmjxDscdzibBUWtzY2I664cY10LJpdLuaQ_aem_AWelQAgsVDg4MqYH7sdCMqPp5EE2_refmdWZiQ5Bs3fmYtype3wvFvs8nO9mBExOujs

 

[Grey Havoc]

Naval And Military Rearmament To Face New Threats Could Cost $10 Trillion

By Enda Curran, Natalia Drozdiak and Bhargavi Sakthivel (Bloomberg) A new era of global rearmament is gathering pace, and it will mean vast costs and some tough decisions for western governments...

gcaptain.com

 

[Forest Green]

US nudges Germany on long-range missiles for Ukraine

Washington (AFP) April 25, 2024 - The United States hopes decisions by it and allied countries to send long-range missiles to Ukraine may encourage similar action by Germany, which has so far refused to provide its Taurus missiles, a US official said Thursday.

www.spacewar.com

 

[Forest Green]

Swedish defense committee calls for near $4.8 billion defense spending jump - Breaking Defense

In a clear reference to Russian aggression, the Swedish government committee warned in a statement of the "deteriorating security situation."

breakingdefense.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Sullivan: Defense industry 'still underestimating' global need for munitions - Breaking Defense

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that there are "no plans" for another Ukraine supplemental at this point.

breakingdefense.com

 

[Forest Green]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1785017847011533148

View: https://x.com/AEI/status/1785017847011533148

 

[Forest Green]

Lithuania eases red tape for defense firms looking to set up shop

A new legislative package allows for companies to quickly start building manufacturing facilities, obtaining the necessary permits only later on.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Broken]

If I'm a business looking to invest a lot of money, why on earth would I build the factory before I've had my permit application accepted? That's a lot of risk.

The problem here is the length of time to get the permit, just deferring the decision doesn't help.

 

[Forest Green]

How to further strengthen the Defense Production Act

Opinion: It is essential to keep DPA focused exclusively on defense and national security issues, in particular threats from our pacing competitor, China.

www.defensenews.com

Congress should approve Pentagon’s latest multiyear procurement pitch

Opinion: Why aren’t block buy and multiyear purchases used much more often by the Defense Department?

www.defensenews.com

German Defense Minister: Restart conscription, pursue 3 percent GDP on defense - Breaking Defense

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius encouraged allies, including the US, to “arrive” at military expenditure of 3 percent GDP – though declined to put forward a timeline for such change to occur.

breakingdefense.com

 

[bobbymike]

HASC's Adam Smith Says Pentagon Must Assess Platform Capability for Modernization Efforts - USNI News

The Pentagon must make modernization choices between legacy systems and new technology like lasers by evaluating each platform’s capability, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said this week. “The aircraft carrier battle groups have been enormously helpful” in deterring Iran...

news.usni.org

 

[Forest Green]

Canada tops up German fund for Ukraine air defenses

Ottawa (AFP) May 10, 2024 - Canada's defense minister announced Friday Can$76 million (US$56 million) for Germany's ramp-up of air defense equipment procurements for Ukraine.

www.spacewar.com

Canada wants to boost munitions lines with critical minerals expansion

Canada hopes to tap into its vast critical minerals reserves to boost munitions productions while lessening dependence on China.

www.defensenews.com

 

[GTX]

Government hands down 2024 Budget - Australian Defence Magazine

The Government handed down the 2024 budget on 14 May with a range of implications for Defence and defence industry | Max Blenkin

www.australiandefence.com.au

 

[bobbymike]

House defense bill retains spending caps, creates DoD talent officer

The draft bill adheres to congressional spending caps, establishes a talent management office and limits nuclear arsenal reductions.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Forest Green]

N. Korea's Kim calls for 'epochal change' in war preparations

Seoul (AFP) May 15, 2024 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an epochal change in war preparations by achieving arsenal production targets during his inspection of a tactical missile system, state media reported Wednesday.

www.spacewar.com

 

[jsport]

Why Increasing the Value of Defense Primes Is Good for the Country - War on the Rocks

In March 2023, the Department of Defense released a report declaring, “In aggregate, the defense industry is financially healthy, and its financial health

warontherocks.com

rapious revanchism

 

[jsport]

Army adds cognitive test to track new soldier brain health

The assessment will establish a baseline measure for evaluating exposure to brain trauma over time.

www.armytimes.com

 

[GTX]

Australia Unveils Record $37 Billion Defense Budget

Australia Unveils Record $37 Billion Defense Budget

www.armyrecognition.com

 

[jsport]

Episode 181 – Defense Budget, Space Update, CCA Decision, and PLA Reorg: The Rendezvous - Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

In episode 181 of the Aerospace Advantage, Defense Budget, Space Update, CCA Decision, and PLA Reorg: The Rendezvous, Heather “Lucky” Penney and John “Slick” Baum chat with members of the Mitchell Institute team about topics you’ve seen in the national security headlines. We begin the...

mitchellaerospacepower.org

 

[jsport]

How the Pentagon can more rapidly buy and field the latest tech

Opinion: With rare exceptions, the U.S. Defense Department cannot acquire new technologies and systems in a timely manner.

www.defensenews.com

 

[jsport]

Innovation Adoption for All: Scaling Across the Department of Defense - War on the Rocks

Across the Department of Defense, today’s watchword is innovation. In 2018, Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and the first chairman of the

warontherocks.com

 

[GTX]

UK's naval expansion: 25 new vessels as Defence budget rises to 2.5% of GDP

UK's Naval Expansion: 25 New Vessels Planned as Defense Budget Increases to 2.5% of GDP.

www.armyrecognition.com

 

[DWG]

UK's naval expansion: 25 new vessels as Defence budget rises to 2.5% of GDP

UK's Naval Expansion: 25 New Vessels Planned as Defense Budget Increases to 2.5% of GDP.

www.armyrecognition.com

It's important to remember that that's a Tory plan/announcement (it seems to be referring to the recent speech by Grant Shapps, the Defence Minister) and the polls currently give them somewhat less than a snowball's chance in hell of being in power beyond the next general election, which has to occur no later than the 28th of January. There are a lot of policies being announced that are designed to appeal to Tory supporters on the doorstep, rather than genuinely intended to be implemented, or actually being anything new. This falls into the second category.

UK Navy to buy six vessels, enter new ‘golden age’ of shipbuilding

The country also plans to give its future frigates the ability to attack land-based targets.

www.defensenews.com

Seems to confirm that the ships in question are those already expected - Type 26, Type 31, the last two Astutes, Dreadnoughts, MRSS, Fleet Solid Support Ship, there's no flag-waving about any new classes such as Type 32 and Type 83.

 

[Forest Green]

UK's naval expansion: 25 new vessels as Defence budget rises to 2.5% of GDP

UK's Naval Expansion: 25 New Vessels Planned as Defense Budget Increases to 2.5% of GDP.

www.armyrecognition.com

Says 28 here:

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-build-six-new-warships-royal-marines-2024-05-14/

The six new vessels are part of a programme of 28 ships and submarines being built or in the pipeline for Britain's Navy, which Shapps said represented "a new Golden Age for British shipbuilding".

Pentagon acquisition can no longer ignore the industrial base

Opinion: The industrial base cannot be considered in isolation. It needs to be a part of the holistic way the Pentagon does acquisition.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Hood]

Can say what it likes, if there ain't no sailors to sail 'em it's pointless.

 

[DWG]

Can say what it likes, if there ain't no sailors to sail 'em it's pointless.

Absolutely, despite banging on about increasing the defence budget, the Tories are still cutting service numbers (Army down to 73k from 82k, Argyll and Westminster being withdrawn for lack of crews to operate them), and this year's defence budget is down, not up.

Britain appears to cut defence budget during war in Europe

The UK is just about the only major European country which is not increasing its defence budget.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

In Rare Intervention, US Urges Britain to 'Reassess' Cuts to Armed Forces

US Navy Secretary highlighted threats from Russia, China and Middle East

www.voanews.com

(If you study the history of defence cuts in the UK, the Tories are reliably the worst, despite their claims that they are the party that's strong on defence).

 

[Forest Green]

Absolutely, despite banging on about increasing the defence budget, the Tories are still cutting service numbers (Army down to 73k from 82k, Argyll and Westminster being withdrawn for lack of crews to operate them), and this year's defence budget is down, not up.

Britain appears to cut defence budget during war in Europe

The UK is just about the only major European country which is not increasing its defence budget.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

In Rare Intervention, US Urges Britain to 'Reassess' Cuts to Armed Forces

US Navy Secretary highlighted threats from Russia, China and Middle East

www.voanews.com

(If you study the history of defence cuts in the UK, the Tories are reliably the worst, despite their claims that they are the party that's strong on defence).

Is the UK including Ukraine aid in their defence spending though? I'm sure some nations are. That could add 0.2%.

 

[DWG]

Is the UK including Ukraine aid in their defence spending though? I'm sure some nations are. That could add 0.2%.

No idea, but if they are then things are even worse.