ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96030402.POL
DATE:03/04/96
TITLE:04-03-96  U.S. DEFENSE BUDGET GOALS: DETERRENCE, FIGHTING CAPABILITY

TEXT:
(Perry calls forward deployment, power projection key) (1490)
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
USIA Security Affairs Correspondent

Washington -- Defense Secretary Perry says the bulk of the military
programs which are funded in the new Fiscal Year 1997 defense budget
of $243,400 million are designed "to provide the capability to
maintain deterrence" and to sustain a "warfighting capability."

This will be achieved in the current fiscal year through a military
force structure that will support 10 active Army divisions; three
Marine Corps divisions; a Navy consisting of 357 battle ships, 11
aircraft carriers, and 10 Navy carrier wings; and 13 Air Force fighter
wings.

The force structure will be complemented by a strategy of forward
deployed U.S. military personnel: 100,000 in Europe, 20,000 in
Southwest Asia, about 100,000 in the Western Pacific region, and some
10,000 south of the United States in the Western Hemisphere.

In unveiling the current budget and outlining one for the five-year
defense period, the secretary said the primary threats of the
post-Cold War era are proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
instability in Eastern and Central Europe, and instability created by
ethnic and nationalistic wars.

This requires the Pentagon to promote military readiness as its number
one priority, and, as one senior defense official observed March 1,
U.S. military forces are "very ready" and the Pentagon plans to "keep
them that way."

U.S. military strategy is organized to prevent dangers from becoming
threats, Perry said, and to deter threats whenever possible. If
conflicts break out, however, the secretary said, the United States
must be prepared "to fight and win." Key to that strategy is the
ability of the U.S. to project military power wherever it may be
required by using fast sealift; strategic airlift with aircraft such
as the Air Force's new C-17 heavy lift transporter, which Perry said
has performed "fantastically" in Bosnia; and via military equipment
pre-positioned in countries such as Kuwait.

Another critical component of the strategy requires the U.S. to have
what the secretary called "air dominance" in any future military
conflict. For this reason a substantial portion of procurement in this
budget is devoted to three tactical aircraft programs: the Air Force's
next generation F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF), the Navy's
F/A-18E/F Hornet aircraft, and the multi-service Joint Advanced Strike
Technology program.

The Air Force is spending $2,000 million on the F-22 this year but
won't actually acquire any until the FY 98-2001 timeframe, when 40
will be purchased. It will also buy 12 F/A-18E/F strike aircraft this
year and another 150 in the coming four years. Joint Strike Fighter
procurement is down the road and it will eventually be purchased by
U.S. allies as well. The Air Force is also buying 45 V-22 tilt-rotor
aircraft in the five-year defense budget.

Perry's goal of sea dominance requires buying four DDG-51 destroyers
this year, two next year, and three in the next three fiscal years. It
also means the purchase of two large roll-on-roll-off container ships
this year and in the next two budgets.

Achieving land dominance means buying 120 M1A2 Abrams main battle
tanks this year, 29 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and more than
2,000 precision guided munitions (PGMs).

Success in air, land and sea dominance requires significant spending
on programs aimed at achieving situational awareness on the
battlefield, Perry said, pointing to the need to buy several Global
Positioning Systems, Joint Star sensors, sophisticated communications
such as MILSTAR and the Global Broadcast System, and Airborne Early
Warning aircraft. Having superior intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance capability in the field, he said, gives U.S. military
forces the "edge" in competitive situations and in ensuring that the
U.S. has "the best military force in the world."

In his March 4 briefing, the secretary said active U.S. defense
programs focus on reducing the nuclear threat from the former Soviet
Union by developing solid military-to-military contacts, encouraging
defense reforms and positive confidence-building measures, and forging
partnerships such as the U.S. National Guard has with Albanian
counterparts.

U.S. efforts to counter the proliferation threat have involved
programs such as working toward the denuclearization of Belarus,
Kazakstan and Ukraine; improving nuclear warhead security in Russia;
buying highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Kazakstan; and efforts to
carry out the Framework Agreement with North Korea.

Asked what the U.S. might do to aid Israel in combating terrorism,
Perry said he expected to intensify the consultative process with the
Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli intelligence. "We will do
everything that we reasonably can to help the Israelis through this
very difficult problem," he said.

In providing his assessment of the situation, Perry said "good
intelligence" is the key to dealing with terrorists effectively and
"any assistance we give the Israelis might be to help them in that
area."

On the subject of defenses against ballistic missiles, the secretary
said there is no ballistic missile threat against the United States
right now, although one could emerge, and the U.S. wants to be ready
for it in three years. At that time, depending on the geopolitical
situation and technical circumstances, a deployment decision could be
made, but it would still require further financing. The Pentagon is
seeking $2,000 million in the current five-year defense plan for
national missile defense.

On the other hand, Perry said, the theater missile defense threat is
"here and now," and he called for accelerated deployment of
evolutionary systems such as Patriot 3 and an Aegis sea-based defense.
The Pentagon is seeking $10,000 million in the current five-year plan.
A senior budget official said the U.S. has planned "a solid" missile
defense program.

Defense spending, as a percentage of federal budget outlays is down to
15.7 percent of the total in FY '97 from 24 percent of the total in FY
'90, according to DOD budget officials. It will drop further to 14.7
percent by FY 2002. It was as high as 57 percent in the early 1950s.

Looking at defense as a share of the Gross Domestic Product, the rate
is only 3.2 percent this year. A senior defense official described
this as the smallest share since 1938. It will decline further to 2.7
percent in FY 2002, according to current projections.

The Pentagon is asking for authority to spend $248,100 in FY '98,
$245,200 in FY '99, $261,600 million in FY 2000, $269,600 million in
FY 2001, and $276,600 million in FY 2002.

The drawdown of military personnel will be 97 percent complete in the
new fiscal year, although civilian reductions are projected to
continue into the next decade.

The Defense Department's plans to invest in weapons modernization
programs depends in large part on planned savings in acquisition
reform, a financial return realized through military base closings
(beginning in FY '97), and through privatizing efforts. Weapons
modernization is projected to grow 40 percent in the current five-year
defense plan.

Air Force plans:

Air Force personnel figures are set for 381,000 this year and
projected to drop to 375,00 by the end of the five-year budget.
Spending on research and development, which declined in fiscal years
1990-1997, will grow by 15 percent in the coming five years. The
service is asking Congress for $600 million for the B-2 Stealth bomber
in FY '97, $2,000 million for the F-22, and $600 million for the Joint
Strike Fighter.

Navy plans:

Navy personnel figures are set at 407,000 for the new fiscal year and
projected to drop to around 394,300 by 2001. The Navy is buying 12
T-45S trainers this year and every year thereafter through FY 2001 and
55 AV-8B Harrier aircraft through 2001.

The Navy force structure will remain at 11 aircraft carriers in FY
'97; it will add four surface combatants and lose one fleet ballistic
missile submarine, leaving 18.

Army plans:

Army personnel figures are listed at 495,000 for the new fiscal year
and holding at that level or perhaps dropping to 475,000 at the
beginning of the next decade. The Army is focusing its modernization
efforts on upgrades for the Abrams tank and Bradley fighting vehicle,
modifying the Apache helicopter to the Longbow configuration with
improved fire-and-forget missile capability, and funding a family of
Medium Tactical Vehicles.

Marine Corps plans:

The Marine Corps personnel number is set at 174,000 in FY '97 and it
will hold steadily at that level. Major procurement efforts focus on
buying M88 Recovery Vehicles in FY '98 (46) as well as remanufactured
trucks and new howitzers toward the end of the decade.
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