US Secretary of Defense says new wars possible

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, speaking at the House Armed Services Committee, said that when preparing proposals for the US defense budget, the possibility of new wars was taken into account, Report informs referring to the Pentagon website.

“The Department must be ready to keep pace with our competitors… and, if necessary, to fight and win the next war… not the last one,” he said.

“This budget reflects our focus on the pacing challenge that we clearly see from the People’s Republic of China, to include more than five billion dollars for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.

Earlier this month, after our China Task Force completed its work, I issued an internal directive kicking off Department-wide efforts that will, among other things, help bolster our deterrence against the PRC, revitalize our network of regional allies and partners, and accelerate the development of cutting-edge capabilities and new operational concepts. However, China is not our only challenge,” he said.

“Our budget also invests $617 million to counter the damaging effects of climate change and additional funds to prepare for future challenges like another pandemic.

It helps us counter belligerence from Russia, particularly in the cyber realm. You’ll see more than $10 billion devoted to cybersecurity, cyberspace operations, and cyber research and development. With its emphasis on space, missile defense, and more sophisticated sensors, our budget will also help us counter the increasing ballistic-missile capabilities of nations like North Korea and Iran,” Austin noted.

He added that the budget envisages investments in hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, microelectronics, 5G technology, space-based systems, shipbuilding, and nuclear modernization.

“In fact, this budget asks you to approve nearly $28 billion to modernize our nuclear triad and $112 billion for research, development, testing, and evaluation - the largest R&D request ever put forth by this Department.”