Defense Secretary Unveils $582.7B Defense Budget

The Pentagon’s planned 2017 budget will shifts its focus to future wars against near-peer competitors Russia and China, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday.

He said the focus will contemplate fights in traditional domains of air, sea and land, as well as areas such as cyber-war and space.

“This budget marks a major inflection point for the Department of Defense,” Carter said at a speech at the Economic Club in Washington.

“In this budget, we’re taking the long view. We have to, because even as we fight today’s fights, we must also be prepared for the fights that might come 10, 20 or 30 years down the road,” he said.

Carter said the $582.7 billion budget will focus on maintaining an edge over competitors and called Russia and China “our most stressing competitors.”

“For a long time, [the Defense Department] tended to focus and plan and prepare for whatever big war people thought was coming over the horizon,” he said. “While that kind of singular focus may have made sense when we were facing off against the Soviets or sending hundreds of thousands of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, it won’t work for the world we live in today.”

Read More- The Hill

Image Credits- The Hill