Report: Missile System and Surveillance Plane Funding Will Go Towards the Border Wall

[babylonsister]

Report: Missile System and Surveillance Plane Funding Will Go Towards the Border Wall
By Aaron Mak
May 12, 20194:02 PM


The Washington Post on Sunday revealed that it had obtained Department of Defense documents outlining in more detail how the Trump administration plans to shift $1.5 billion originally designated for other military projects to help build the border wall.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Congress on Friday that the Pentagon would be reprogramming money previously allotted for the war in Afghanistan and other military projects to help construct 80 miles of border barriers. Apart from this $1.5 billion, the Pentagon has also pledged $1 billion from Army personnel funds and $3.6 billion from other military construction projects to assist with border wall construction.

Shanahan said that the shift in funding would not affect the military’s readiness but did not specify the particular projects from which the Pentagon would be drawing the money. However, Washington Post reports that, based on internal documents, the department plans to delay an upgrade for its Minuteman II ballistic missile program, which is decades old. The Air Force has been testing a Minuteman III program in order to replace the nuclear intercontinental Minuteman II missiles.

The Pentagon also plans to delay an unspecified development in the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). AWACS planes conduct surveillance and communicate with fighter planes. The Post notes that the Pentagon terminated a $76 million contract with Boeing due to development delays late in 2018.

The department will be shifting additionally funds from a “space test experiment” run by the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA), the Blended Retirement System for servicemembers, and “Overseas Contingency Operations” funds to assist coalition forces and the Afghan military.

more...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/documents-show-how-the-pentagon-plans-to-shift-usd1-5-billion-in-funding-towards-the-border-wall.html

[orangecrush]

1. Putin is ecstatic.

[old guy]

2. Cannot say this enough.

It's time to slash the Pentagon budget in a very serious way.

[Sherman A1]

3. +1