David Gilberg, VICE News: The Pentagon’s spending increase is more than Russia’s entire military budget
When Donald Trump approved a massive spending bill last week, he gave the Pentagon another $61 billion. That’s money than Russia spends on its entire military in an entire year.
The president begrudgingly signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill on Friday just hours after threatening to veto because of a lack of money for his border wall and no fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
But within the 2,200-page bill,Trump was happy with at least one provision: the amount of funding for the military. At $700 billion, it’s $23 billion more than the president had requested and a whopping $61 billion more than was spent in 2017.
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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 28, 2018
Mattis to Military: You Have Your Money. Spend It Wisely -- Defense One
Trump privately proposed military funding for his border wall, report says -- CNBC
Chinese Aircraft Carrier Leads Massive Drills in South China Sea -- Sputnik
Beijing just flexed its navy in the South China Sea, but in a ridiculous way that the US could quickly smoke -- Business Insider
China’s military has confirmed the Navy is testing a railgun at Sea -- Next Big Future
Japan Protests Russia's Military Flight Exercise Over Kuril Islands -- Sputnik
Switzerland names contenders in $8 billion ‘Air 2030’ program -- Defense News
Poland officially signs deal to buy Patriot from US -- Defense News
Haiti installs new high command for planned 5,000-strong army -- Reuters
WATCH: Afghan Air Force Destroys Taliban Compound With Laser-Guided Bomb -- Sputnik
Afghan Air Force Must Switch from Mi-17s to Black Hawks -- Military.com/Stars and Stripes
Is America Winning to Lose in Afghanistan? -- Nathan Jennings, RCD
Lagging US Navy F-35C Inches Toward Being a Reliable, Operational Aircraft -- Sputnik
Will Ongoing KC-46 Tanker Problems Affect KC-10 Retirement? -- Defense Tech
Trump Defense Budget Gives Boeing's Super Hornet Fighter A Big Boost -- Forbes
US Navy plans to modify 45 more Super Hornets -- Flight Global
Air Force Offers Glimpse into 6th-Gen Fighters, Future Flight Suits -- Defense Tech
Lockheed's MQ-25 Tanker Drone Looks Impressive, But It's Still Just A Paper Plane -- Warzone/The Drive
Watch military swarm drones lock on and surround a target -- Boing Boing
Watch Microwave and Laser Weapons Knock Drones Out of the Sky -- Popular Mechanics
The Navy and Marine Corps Need to Prepare for the Swarm of the Future -- David Pinion, War On The Rocks
Navy Orders 60,000 Compact Versions of Army's New Sidearm -- Kit up!/Military.com
US Army Eyes Adding Unique 40mm Cannon To Its Stryker and Bradley Armored Vehicles -- Warzone/The Drive
Army Unveils Family of Future Vertical Lift Helicopters -- Defense Tech
Surprise addition of military satellites to DoD budget irks commercial industry -- Space News
Why flying cars are the future of military transportation -- Recode
Juggling two jobs? Army Futures Command leaders won’t have to worry about that -- Defense News
Army May Extend Basic Training, Introduce New Fitness Regime -- Military.com
Vet deported because of felony says he did his time in prison, belongs back in US -- CNN
The Precarious State of Civil-Military Relations in the Age of Trump -- Lindsey P. Cohn, War On The Rocks
The U.S. Army Needs Modernized Humvees -- Dan Goure, National Interest
Send Navy Ships to the Baltic and Black Seas -- Jerry Hendrix, NRO
