Budget details

In the 2022 budget, Joe Biden has requested 753 billion dollars for the military and defense sectors, an increase of about 1.6 percent, or 12.3 billion dollars from last year. If approved, the 715 billion dollars would go directly to the Pentagon. The president also called on Congress to approve a 665 billion dollars budget to help Europe meet what is being called the growing challenges between China and Russia. In addition to the Department of Defense, the US military budget includes military expenditures from other ministries, including the Department of Energy (related to nuclear weapons).

Controlling Russia and China, modernizing the nuclear program, countering emerging biological threats, developing, testing and modernizing missiles and ultrasonic weapons, building and developing drones, radars and modern missile systems, building hypersonic weapons (missiles with incredible speed and 27 times above the speed of sound), purchase of 85 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, formation of space force, allocation of 38 billion dollars for related defense programs in the FBI, and allocation of 100 billion dollars to fund new intercontinental ballistic missiles are among the important measures envisaged in the 2022 military budget.

Dimensions and features

Allocating more fund to modern weapons, removal of old weapons, including four Littoral strike ships, several A10s, KC-10s and KC-135 airplanes, as well as a serious focus on US Army ground, naval and air forces on ultrasonic missiles are important dimensions of the US military budget for 2022. The ultrasonic missiles are equipped with warheads that can move several times faster than the speed of sound and destroy targets and so far cruise and ballistic missiles have had such capability.

Another important aspect of the 2022 military budget is transfer of American troops from land to sea. Hugh Howard, a senior commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command has said that many American troops have been fighting in the deserts of Iraq and in the mountains of Afghanistan for the past two decades, this must change, now they must return to the sea. Formation of the “space force” is also considered as another very important dimension of the US military budget for the next year.

Another notable feature of the 2022 budget request is the training program and equipping Iraq and Syria as part of the plan to fight against ISIS. The Biden administration’s request to the Congress calls for 345 million dollars of the 522 million dollars budget for the Iraqi security forces and 177 million dollars for “groups and individuals identified in Syria,” including the PKK /YPG terrorist group. This shows that the 2022 budget also focuses on supporting terrorism in the Biden administration. In addition, the 370 million dollars budget is allocated to support the border security of Syria and neighboring countries, of which 150 million dollars will be provided to Jordan and 220 million dollars to other countries.

Targets of Military budget

Confronting China, along with Russia, is one of the main goals of the US military budget for 2022. In the 2022 budget, the Ministry of Defense (Pentagon) is defined as one of the main pillars of competition with China, which should include infrastructure reform, training development, strengthening and upgrading of military equipment, as well as adding a new pillar to the military, the “space force” to its agenda. China is developing its strategic and conventional power at a very rapid pace; the Beijing investments will weaken capabilities of the United States in the region. In the draft budget presented to the Congress, the “China threat” is mentioned as the first challenge of the US Department of Defense!

The importance of the Chinese threat in the 2022 military budget is as such that 5.1 billion budget has been requested in the Ocean Prevention Plan presented to Congress by the Biden administration to confront and contain China in the Indo-Pacific region! In a report with regard to the Chinese targets in the 2022 budget, the New York Times has stressed that the armed forces budget, shows the change in the focus of Joe Biden’s administration from fighting the so-called insurgent groups to moving towards allocating resources for getting prepared for possible conventional wars with countries equipped with advanced ships and aircraft in which China stands on top of those countries. At the same time, the US Navy Special Forces intends to shift its focus from claims of “counter-terrorism” to countering threats from world powers such as China and Russia. In Biden’s view, restoring US hegemony requires, above all, restraining China.

Effects and consequences

As can be seen, “confrontation with China” is the main goal of the US heavy military budget, and there are extensive strategic plans in the 2022 military budget, therefore this issue could have important consequences for the United States, both externally and internally. “Intensification of competition with China”, especially in the Pacific, and development of “maritime conflicts” in this regard, is the most important external consequence in this regard. It should be noted that since the Biden administration took office in the United States and in the last six months, operations of US ships in the seas around China have increased by 20% and activity of air reconnaissance and espionage units have grown by about 40 percent over the previous year. However, in order to continue and intensify this trend, both quantitatively and qualitatively, important strategies have been considered in the 2022 budget. This issue cannot be ignored by China. Certainly China’s response to US actions, especially as a time when the economy and livelihood of the American people have deteriorated in recent years for a number of reasons, including the Coronavirus outbreak, and according to Congressman Bernie Sanders, the age of life expectancy among Americans is declining day by day and the number of hungry and poor Americans is increasing every day, could have repercussions for the United States at home as well.

That’s why domestic dissidents believe 753 billion dollars is a huge budget for the Pentagon. Sanders, Chairman of the Budget Committee and leader of the Democratic Party, is at the forefront of the opposition, arguing that at a time when the US military budget is larger than the combined budgets of the other 12 countries, it is time to look seriously at heavy military spending and wasting money and financial scams that currently exist in the US Department of Defense.

Concluding remarks

Strengthening military capabilities by allocating large budgets to the defense-military sector has always been one of the most important tools of the United States since World War II to strengthen its dominance and influence in the international environment. Because militarism in the United States is economic in nature and is pursued with the goal of economic domination that even a significant portion of the American people do not enjoy. The 2022 military budget can be evaluated in the same way as before. What is clear is that an increase in the military budget will make arms manufacturing companies happy and confident; companies, groups and corporations that have a strange influence on the US political, security and military processes and are constantly trying to pave the way for the spread of regional and international wars and crises in the world by increasing military budgets, which also boosts their markets.