Breaking Defense:

The Army’s ambitious plans for offensive missiles and missile defense will reach fever pitch just as Pentagon budgets may well come crashing down, in 2023. That said, not every expert forecast is so pessimistic – see below.

Target 2023

The Army has big plans in multiple areas, but other expensive weapons are scheduled to enter service somewhere around 2027-2030 — for example the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) to replace the 1981-vintage M2 Bradley or the Future Vertical Lift aircraft to replace Reagan-era helicopters. By contrast, multiple missile systems are set to enter service in 2023. That includes both offensive missiles to strike enemy ground targets (and, in later upgrades, ships) and defensive missiles to shoot enemy missiles, drones, and aircraft out of the sky before they can kill American troops.

Yet most experts we talk to expect a sharp dip in the 2023 budget because that is when the Biden Administration will have its first chance has to truly shape Pentagon spending for the post-COVID world. The Army’s own former chief of staff, now Joint Chiefs chairman, has predicted a budgetary “bloodletting” of ground force programs in the next few years to fund a naval and air buildup against China. Can all these Army programs survive? …

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