Long Term Implications Of The Department Of Defense S Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Submission

Carrying out the plans proposed in the President¿s 2010 budget request, excluding overseas contingency operations, would require defense resources averaging $567 billion annually from 2011 to 2028. That amount is about 6% more than the $534 billion in total obligational authority the Admin. requested in its regular 2010 budget. Four main factors account for the higher resources required in the long term: The likelihood of continued real growth in pay and benefits for DoD¿s military and civilian personnel; The projected increases in the costs of oper. and maint. for aging equip.; DoD¿s plans to develop and field advanced weapon systems; and Investments in new capabilities to meet emerging security threats. Charts and tables.

This testimony is an analyses of DoD¿s budget requests and preliminary projections for FY 2011 through 2028. Those projections are based in part on the President¿s 2010 budget request and budget justification materials the Admin. provided to the Congress with that request. Among the other sources consulted to supplement this analysis were DoD press releases and briefing materials and the Sec. of Defense¿s announcement in April 2009 of changes to the nation¿s defense plans. The long-term demand for defense resources could be larger than the auditor¿s base projections. The auditor estimates that supporting the number of deployed service members would require recurring annual appropriations of about $20 billion in 2010 dollars. Illus.