U.S.** Biden recently signed a much-talked-about bill, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. The bill's defense budget is as high as $857.9 billion, setting a record high for U.S. spending.
In the face of Biden's big spending, some people began to wonder, where will this huge amount of money be invested? Before we dive into this question, we need to understand what the National Defense Authorization Act is.
The U.S. Fiscal Year Defense Budget Act, also known as the National Defense Authorization Act, clearly states how much the U.S. will invest in the defense force in the current fiscal year.
For this bill to take effect, it first needs to go through the double review of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and after it is passed, it will be signed and confirmed by the United States**.
In 2013, Obama signed a bill that included $88 billion in overseas warfare, but in 2018, that figure was reduced to more than $60 billion, a reduction of about $20 billion.
What is the real purpose of the "National Defense Authorization Act" signed by Biden? Although Biden has claimed that military spending is mainly used to improve the welfare of Americans and their families, in fact, this is not the main purpose of military spending, and the proportion is relatively small.
Under this year's National Defense Authorization Act, the United States allocated $816.7 billion of the $857.9 billion to the Department of Defense, of which only 4 percent was spent on improving the treatment of military and civilian personnel6%, the treatment of military dependents is not explicitly mentioned.
The cost of maintaining energy stations and nuclear facilities is only $30.3 billion, and the non-Department of Defense-led defense cost is only $3$7.8 billion. This suggests that most of the funds are spent on the Ministry of Defense.
The main funding of the Ministry of Defense has two directions, one is to develop new ones, and the other is to maintain and manufacture existing ones. The research and development of new ** is a long-term pursuit of the United States, and they hope to develop disruptive military technology to create a new ** across the era.
Due to the slow progress of the project, the Ministry of Defense previously provided limited financial support for it. However, this year's funding for the project suddenly soared to $130.1 billion, an increase of 16% compared to last year, which is much faster than the average rate of growth in the United States**!
Although this growth rate is much faster than in the past, there is still a big gap compared to the existing ** maintenance and manufacturing. According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the U.S. military will continue to strengthen the construction of ** and military aircraft in 2023 to further enhance its military strength.
Among them, the naval shipbuilding industry will receive at least $32.6 billion in orders, an increase of $4.7 billion from last year. Moreover, they made it clear that these funds will be used for the construction of combat ships, which are expected to reach 11.
The U.S. Department of Defense has announced the addition of 11 combat ships and a range of advanced aircraft to the military. Among them, there are three guided missile destroyers, two Burke-class attack nuclear submarines, two Frencia-class fast transport ships, one Constellation-class frigate, one San Antonio-class amphibious dock landing ship, one Navajo-class towing and salvage rescue ship, and one military tanker.
In the Air Force, it is planned to build 8 F-18 E F" Super Hornet F-35 C, 15 F-35 B, 12 CH-53 K*** and add 2 V-22 "Osprey" gyroplanes, 5 KC-130 J air tankers and 7 E-2 D AWACS aircraft.
The Ministry of Defense is not only committed to the development and manufacture of military fighter jets, but also funds a number of drone platforms, including well-known brands such as the MQ-4 C Triton and the MQ-25 Stingray.
In addition, the Department of Defense made it clear that it will strengthen the nuclear strike capabilities of the United States in the new year. This includes $6.3 billion for a Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine and $5 billion worth of new B 21** bombers to boost nuclear strike capabilities in the air and at sea.
B 21** bomber and a new generation of ICBM research and development programs, as well as nuclear command and control system upgrades, revealed what Biden ** called"Defend the homeland"of hypocrisy.
In fact, long-range strikes, such as bombers, nuclear submarines, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, are really aimed at invading other countries, not protecting homeland security.
In addition, this year's US defense budget is also heavily used to maintain its international status and disrupt international security, but it is not really used for national defense construction.
The two main priorities of this budget are the European Deterrence Initiative and the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. The core goal of these two initiatives is to maintain US hegemony and cause disruption to the development of other countries.
In the European Deterrence Initiative, the key measure is to revise and extend the Ukraine Security Agreement and commit to increase aid and support for Ukraine, with the initial $300 million aid package increasing to $800 million.
In 2023, the United States will continue to use the Russia-Ukraine conflict to its own advantage, and the people of Russia and Ukraine will continue to suffer from the war. At the same time, the United States will also make huge profits by exporting oil and gas to Europe.
In the "Pacific Deterrence Initiative," the United States has made it clear that it will continue to provide military assistance to Taiwan Province in the next five years, with a total amount of about $10 billion, and will even increase as appropriate.
In addition, Biden also made it clear that he will speed up the processing of the request for the purchase of armaments by Taiwan Province of China, which means that the United States will send all kinds of armaments to Taiwan Province of China, and this kind of armament may become a normal behavior, in order to prevent the pace of China's recovery of Taiwan.
The United States plans to conduct joint military exercises with Taiwan and invite Taiwan to participate in the "Rim of the Pacific Military Exercise" in 2024, a move that clearly violates the international community's consensus on "one China" and exposes its expansionist ambitions.
Although the United States has secretly sent *** to Taiwan in the past, this time, Biden not only did it publicly, but also wrote this provision into the National Defense Authorization Agreement. This shows that Biden not only wants to continue to sow chaos in Europe, but also tries to make other countries fear and submit to his hegemony by flexing his military power and maintaining his image as the "world's policeman".
The United States seems to have forgotten an important fact: this is an era of peaceful development, and we have bid farewell to the period of the last century when we relied on force to dominate the world. However, the behavior of the United States may cause trouble for itself, especially in the current poor economic situation, and Biden has not only not reduced military spending, but has increased it.
This kind of "reckless use of force" is likely to lead to self-trouble.
The U.S. decision is obviously asking for trouble, but we still need to resolutely promote scientific and technological progress and the enhancement of national strength. We must calmly respond to their policies toward our country, and in an orderly and rational manner, we must not let a move by the United States affect our own development plans.