Members of the House Appropriations Committee are reportedly demanding over $2.5 billion in cuts to a missile procurement program
The US military fires a high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) during a live-fire exercise on April 26, 2023 in San Antonio, the Philippines © AFP / TED ALJIBE / AFP
The Pentagon’s ambitious plan to increase missile production could end up having its wings clipped due to Republican opposition, Politico has reported. GOP representatives on the House Appropriations Committee are understood to have demanded significant cuts to the program.
Citing a draft committee report, the media outlet claimed on Saturday that members were insisting on spending reductions of over $2.5 billion in the area of missile procurement.
They argued that the Pentagon had failed to prove that buying projectiles at a higher volume would necessarily result in lower prices, Politico reported. The panel decided to redirect the funds to other areas, such as military training, maintenance, and research and development.
“The committee is particularly concerned [that] the Department [of Defense] cannot provide realistic cost estimates and has proceeded with these multi-year procurement requests without a firm understanding of each program’s unit cost and production capacity,” the representatives allegedly wrote in their report.
The original plan for multi-year purchases of munitions was part of President Joe Biden’s push to ramp up defense spending as the country continues to provide billions of dollars worth of military supplies to Ukraine. Another major factor, the article said, was growing fears of a future conflict with China.
The cuts proposed by Republican committee members have reportedly come under fire from their Democratic counterparts. Politico predicted that a fight between the two parties would likely ensue in the House and Senate when the report is published next week.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg claimed last week that the latest defense aid package pledged by Washington to Kiev could face lengthy delays in its implementation, as the weapons would first have to be contracted and produced.
Since Russia launched its military campaign against the neighboring country last February, the US has been by far the most generous donor of weapons to Ukraine.
Moscow has consistently condemned Western arms shipments to Kiev, insisting that they only serve to prolong the conflict and risk escalation.
