‘TOUGH CHOICES AND MAJOR CUTS’: Things were supposed to be easier this time around for the Pentagon. The dreaded spending limits imposed by Congress were retired in a bipartisan two-year budget deal, after a five-period that saw shortages of key munitions, low readiness rates in front-line combat units, and an aging Cold War-era nuclear arsenal in desperate need of modernization.

But just as President Trump was taking office the world of warfare was changing dramatically. “One thing had become evident — wars of the future were going to be radically different than the short conventional wars and protracted counterterrorism operations we have fought since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” said Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist in rolling out the proposed 2021 department budget.