The President has requested an additional $5.9B in emergency and OCO spending for FY18 for missile defense ($4B), repair of the USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald ($0.7B), and increased costs to support the wider ranging strategy in AFG and South Asia ($1.2B) announced in October .
The emergency spending increase request would result in a 9.1% increase to the Administration's existing OCO request of $64.6B for a total of $70.5B in FY 2018 emergency and OCO spending. OCO spending is treated as emergency spending by Congress. These type of budget appropriations do not count against the budget caps imposed by the Budget Control Act against baseline spending and are therefore almost always approved and very often enhanced by Congress.
The Administration's total request for FY 2018 Pentagon spending (known as 051) is now $645B ($574.5B baseline + $70.5B emergency/OCO) compared to $606B (+6.4%) appropriated for FY 2017.*
The FY 2018 budget request is still in the throes of modification and approval by Congress. December 8 is the current deadline for either passage of a budget, extension of the Continuing Resolution or government shutdown. Although Congress has clearly signalled that it wants to authorize and appropriate at least $671B in total spending for FY 2018, ~$26B more than the new request, it must find the votes to change the Budget Control Act to do so.
Details of the request and winners:
- Strategic Missile Defense ($2.1B) - The Missile Defense Agency will nearly double the Ground Midcourse Defense missile field in Greely, Alaska. BA has the lucrative 10 year integration contract for the hugely complex GMD system; OA (soon to be NOC) will build 20 additional Ground Based Interceptor boosters to go into the new missile field; RTN makes the kill vehicles atop the GBI missiles. RTN is also teamed with Mitsubishi to make 16 SM-3 Block IIA interceptors to be fired from ships. LMT will make 50 land-based THAAD theater interceptors (~$590M)
- Terminal Phase Missile Defense ($0.8B) - LMT will make 147 Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancment (MSE) missiles ($725M).
- Other Missile Defense Development ($1.1B) Usual suspects will share these R&D funds.
- Repair of the McCain and Fitzgerald ($0.7B) . HII will repair the Fitzgerald in Pascagoula. McCain will be repaired in Yokusuka, Japan
- Overseas Operations ($1.2B). Primarily O&M funds for increased operations by a larger force in AFG and "South Asia" (read: Pakistan)
* We do it so you don't have to: Note that Dept of Energy national security spending of $28.4B is often added to the DoD baseline number to produce a figure confusingly called "Defense" (050). For "Defense" (050), the Administration is requesting a total of $603B (= $574.5B + $28.4B) in baseline spending. The Budget Control Act caps baseline 050 "Defense" spending in FY 2018 to $549B. Proposed emergency and OCO spending of $70.5B is added to wherever the caps end up.
