OPINION:
Our annual Department of Defense budget is approaching $1 trillion, yet our military equipment is drastically aging.
Unfortunately, it takes years to manufacture an adequate quantity of new, sophisticated weapons. We used more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles and hundreds of interceptor missiles in the Iran war. These will take more than three years to replace.
How did the Defense Department allow this to happen?
In a recent op-ed, George Will pointed out that two-thirds of the U.S. Air Force (some 2,000 aircraft) are approximately 50 years old. All our B-52s were built more than 60 years ago. Since 1991, “the number of fighter squadrons has declined from 134 to 56 … and the average age of fighter planes has increased from 9.7 years to 30.3 years.” The Air Force is more than 2,000 pilots short of requirements.
A Heritage Foundation report from March 4 states that the U.S. Army’s equipment is aging and the Army is not modernizing it.
The report rates our Navy as too small and also aging. Shipyards cannot keep up with repair work, which delays ships returning to the fleet, increases the duration of deployments and fosters lower personnel retention. We have 290 ships but need 400.
We must upgrade and increase the quantities of military equipment, which necessitates raising our defense budget to 5% or 6% of gross domestic product.
DONALD MOSKOWITZ
Londonderry, New Hampshire
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