The Pentagon’s fiscal 2017 budget request is expected to reshape the military, but not make any major cuts to the force, a senior defense official said Monday night.
Last year’s budget deal set the military’s base budget for fiscal 2017 at $524 billion, with an additional $58.8 billion in the Pentagon’s war fund. While the deal provided some relief from sequestration, it still left the military short of its request for fiscal 2017 in previous budgets.
“Armed with a budget deal that provided some critical stability for 2017, this year’s budget drives change that’s not about size, but rather shape: to adjust to a new strategic era, and to seize opportunities for the future,” the official said.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is speaking Tuesday morning at the Economic Club in Washington. He’s expected to provide a more detailed preview of the administration’s defense budget, which will be released in full next week.
The official said this budget is a “major inflection point” that will deal with the numerous threats facing the country.
“Over the last year, Secretary Carter has shifted the weight of the defense budget to focus on five evolving challenges we face: great power competition from a resurgent Russia and a rising China, regional threats from North Korea and Iran, and the enduring need to counter terrorism,” the official said.
The budget will also make investments in new technology, including undersea, cyber, space and electronic warfare, the official said.
