The U.S. Air Force is vowing to protect the costly F-35 fighter program, in spite of major budget pressures placed upon the Pentagon (“US Air Force vows to spare F-35 from budget cuts,” Agence France Presse, 19 September 2011). Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the Air Force Association that loss of the program would […]
Tag Archives: U.S. military spending
$1,000,000,000,000 and counting
According to the National Priorities Project, the total direct cost to the United States of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq surpassed one trillion dollars on Sunday, May 30th. Estimates of the direct and indirect costs of the wars, including future health care for wounded soldiers, interest payments on debt, and other factors, already run […]
U.S. and global military spending
The U.S. military budget comprises over 44 percent of the entire world’s military spending, reports the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (Laicie Olson, “U.S. vs. Global Defense Spending,” 21 May 2010). The Center calculates that worldwide military spending totalled US$1.57 trillion in 2008, the latest year for which global numbers are available, and […]