Pentagon asks for more funds for high-tech weapons

WASHINGTON, United States - In a bid to keep the US military's technological edge, President Barack Obama's proposed budget for 2016 calls for an increase in defense spending to pay for high-tech weapons and training.

The $585 billion request for the Pentagon would devote $107.7 billion to big-ticket weapons -- an increase of $14.1 billion over the previous budget.

And it would set aside $50.9 billion for the US mission in Afghanistan and the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria -- a 21 percent decrease in war funding, known as the "overseas contingency operations" fund.

America's gargantuan military budget far surpasses that of any other country, and exceeds the combined defense spending of the next eight biggest militaries in the world.

Here are the highlights:

Fighters, bombers and spy planes

Obama is asking for $11 billion for 57 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, a major expansion for the most expensive weapons project in Pentagon history. The previous budget called for buying 38 of the fighter jets.

Apart from the radar-evading F-35s, the budget would invest $2 billion in a new long-range bomber -- a project that remains shrouded in secrecy -- as well as $3.4 billion for 16 P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft and $3 billion for 12 new refueling tankers.

The US Air Force also wants money to keep older aircraft in the air, including the B-52 bomber that dates back to the 1950s.

But the officials plan to retire the A-10 Warthog, a plane beloved by troops for its ability to pound tanks and other targets on the ground. Congress has previously blocked the air force's attempts to phase out the plane by 2019.

Submarines and other warships

For the US Navy, the budget would purchase two new destroyers for $3.5 billion, two Virginia-class submarines for $5.7 billion, a new amphibious ship for the Marine Corps for $600 million and three littoral combat ships for $1.9 billion -- a vessel that is being revamped after a series of problems.

The budget also would invest $2.8 billion in a sophisticated, new aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, and set aside $1.4 billion for the new Ohio-class submarine, which is supposed to replace the current fleet of nuclear-powered subs.

But Navy officials have acknowledged the Ohio-class submarines, which will cost an estimated $13 billion each, are so expensive that it will not be able to pay for its other warships without a major boost in funding.

Missile defense and satellites

The Pentagon is seeking $9.6 billion for missile defense programs to counter the potential threat from North Korea and Iran.

The funding would pay for new radar, anti-missile interceptors based on naval ships and for "enhancements" to the troubled ground-based interceptors.

Those ground-based weapons have encountered repeated problems in testing and the budget proposal would fund "modifications to address the root causes of recent flight test failures," the Pentagon said.

The budget request also calls for more than $5 billion for a range of satellites to bolster communications and intelligence gathering.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US F-22 stealth jets join S.Korea drills amid N.Korea threat

WASHINGTON - The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea.

The advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force base in South Korea, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the U.S. military command in South Korea said in a statement that urged North Korea to restrain itself.

"(North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the statement said.

Sabre-rattling on the Korean peninsula drew a plea for peace from Pope Francis, who in his first Easter Sunday address called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

"Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow," he said, speaking in Italian.

Tensions have been high since the North's young new leader, Kim Jong-un, ordered a nuclear weapons test in February, breaching U.N. sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea's closest ally, China, not to do so.

That test, North Korea's third since 2006, drew further U.N. and bilateral sanctions designed to pressure the impoverished North to stop its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang responded to the new steps by ratcheting up warnings and threats of war.

North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea, but Seoul and its ally the United States played down the statement from the official KCNA news agency as the latest in a stream of tough talk from Pyongyang.

In a rare U.S. show of force aimed at North Korea, the United States on Thursday flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea.

On Friday, Kim signed an order putting the North's missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the stealth bomber flights.

The F-22 jets will take part in the annual U.S.-South Korea Foal Eagle military drills, which are designed to sharpen the allies' readiness to defend the South from an attack by North Korea, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. military did not say how many of the planes were flown to South Korea from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The statement described Sunday's deployment as part of routine shifts of air power among bases in the Western Pacific that U.S. forces have been conducting since 2004.

Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted the top Japanese government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, as condemning Pyongyang for "aggressive provocation" after Kim's ruling party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, identified U.S. military bases in Japan as targets for attack.

The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war since a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats, few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war.

source: abs-cbnnews.com