In 2021, the US military budget will amount to $740.5 billion, of which $705.4 billion will be allocated directly to the Ministry of Defense. "Newspaper.Ru " analyzed which samples of weapons and military equipment will be purchased by Washington in 2021 and what will be given special attention.

In accordance with the National Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal year 2021, a total of $740.5 billion is allocated for US defense this year. The Pentagon's base budget is $635.5 billion, plus $69 billion for emergency operations abroad and $26.6 billion for national security programs within the US Department of Energy.

And although President Donald Trump vetoed the military budget, it is unlikely that the defense spending planned for 2021 in the United States will change dramatically.


Strategic nuclear Forces

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) intends to continue to modernize the US nuclear arsenals, including the development of the W93 warhead, while improving the management of the nuclear weapons life cycle process. The NNSA continues to support the maintenance of an appropriate number of intercontinental missile forces to deter large-scale strategic attacks and does not impose any additional restrictions on test capabilities.

$29 billion is allocated for strategic nuclear forces in 2021. The funds are supposed to be used for the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers made using stealth technology (B-21 Raider), long-range strategic cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, submarines with Columbia-class ballistic missiles.

Spending on nuclear weapons in the United States will grow by 18% compared to 2020.

In particular, $1.173 billion is allocated for ballistic missiles for Trident II MODS submarines (purchase and maintenance of combat readiness).

Ground forces

In the field of conducting combat operations in land theaters, the Law on Appropriations for the 2021 fiscal year provides for the development of a system of high-precision long-range fire and integrated air and missile defense, including high-precision strike missiles, hypersonic missiles, high-energy lasers.

In the coming year, the military will be added $47 million for research and testing of unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS).
The budget also includes the construction of 60 UH-60L/M/V Blackhawk helicopters, 50 AH-64E and 6 MH-47G Ghinook helicopters.

In particular, the 2021 budget provides for $3,219 billion for the purchase of aircraft (helicopters, UAVs, related equipment) for the US Ground Forces, $3,451 billion for the purchase of guided missiles (M-SHORAD, MSE missile, Hellfire, Javelin, Patriot, ATACMS, etc.), for the purchase of armored combat vehicles (Stryker upgrade, Bradley, M109, M1 Abrams tank (mod), etc.) and other weapons for ground forces — $3.840 billion, ammunition — $2.869 billion.

US Air Force

In 2021, 93 Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) aircraft will be purchased in the amount of $9.1 billion, which is 14 aircraft more than the budget of the US president provides. This number includes the use of six F-35 aircraft that were intended for Turkey before Ankara was excluded from the F-35 program.

Currently, F-35 fighters are exported to Australia, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Great Britain, Denmark and Poland. Now Finland, Singapore, Greece and the United Arab Emirates are joining the list of these countries.

At the moment, out of 500 manufactured and delivered F-35 aircraft, 354 aircraft belong to the F-35A modification, 108 aircraft belong to the F-35B modification, and 38 aircraft belong to the F — 35C modification. Of the 500 aircraft, 353 were delivered to the American armed forces and 147 to foreign customers.

In 2021, purchases of the MQ-9 Reaper UAV ("Reaper") will be increased by $ 108 million and 16 more devices will be added to the previously ordered ones. Earlier, the US Department of Defense signed a contract with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) for the production of MQ-9 UAVs for $7.4 billion.

Next year, the US Air Force will receive seven more C-130J aircraft for further modernization of the fleet of military transport aircraft.

US Navy

In 2021, the US Navy will receive nine warships, including one additional Virginia-class submarine, one additional high-speed expeditionary transport and one less landing ship (LPD-31, previously authorized by Congress) compared to the budget request of the US President.

The Virginia-class submarines are fourth-generation multi-purpose submarines of the US Navy. Submarines of this class are designed to combat submarines of a likely enemy at depth and for coastal operations. In addition to standard weapons, the boat also has equipment for special operations-uninhabited underwater vehicles, an airlock for light divers, a deck mount for a container or an ultra-small submarine.
$4,620 billion is allocated for these submarines in the 2021 budget.

In 2021, $500 million will be allocated for the construction of the universal landing ship of the "America" type USS Saipan (LHA 9). The displacement of the UDC is 45,700 tons. The crew consists of 1,089 people (65 officers).

The ship can accommodate up to 1,687 Marine soldiers, and it can serve as an aircraft carrier for the latest F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, MV-22 Ospreys tiltrotor planes and heavy Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallions transport and landing helicopters.

In 2021, the Navy aviation will receive eight more P-8 Poseidon aircraft to continue the modernization of anti-submarine weapons.
Among other things, the US Navy budget of 2021 provides the right to conclude contracts for two Columbia-class nuclear missile submarines, three San Antonio-class landing ships and one America-class landing ship.

In particular, it is planned to allocate for the purchase of combat aircraft and helicopters for the Navy: F/A-18E/F Hornet — $1.725 billion, Joint Strike Fighter CV — $2.371 billion, Joint Strike Fighter CV AP — $330 million, JSF STOVL — $1.075 billion, V-22 (medium lift) — $1.121 billion, E-2D ADV Hawkeye — $611 million, MQ-4 Triton — $244 million et al. In total, $18.545 billion is allocated for the purchase of aircraft for the Navy.
In general, $23.409 billion is allocated for military shipbuilding in the budget of 2021.

Combating transnational threats

While the US National Defense Strategy gives priority to strategic competition as the main problem of the security of the American state, the United States faces numerous complex threats, including, according to the document, from terrorist organizations around the world.

To counter these threats, the 2021 budget expands and strengthens the powers designed to support the capabilities of America's international partners in the fight against terrorism, so that the United States can pay more attention to the priorities of the National Defense Strategy.

The budget for fiscal year 2021 expands the powers of the US Department of Defense to support the reconciliation of the warring parties conducted by the government of Afghanistan, and allocates $4 billion to assist the Afghan National Security Forces.

The 2021 military budget continues to support the Iraqi Security Forces, proven Syrian groups and other US partners "in the fight against terrorism." It is also prohibited to use funds to provide weapons or any form of support to Al-Qaeda (the organization is banned in Russia), the Islamic State (IS), Al-Shabaab (the latter is part of Al-Qaeda, all three organizations are banned in Russia), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (an elite military-political formation of Iran) and other organizations.

In addition, the budget requires more detailed information for future years regarding the activities of the US Department of Defense to defeat ISIS and "counter the malicious behavior" of Iran.