P
resident Bu
sh has submitted a 2008 defense budget request amounting to $481.4 billion—just for the DOD baseline not the war—surpassing the 2007 enacted level by 11.3 percent. Per a DOD release, that equates to a “real growth” of 8.6 percent. The baseline budget request includes a three percent pay raise for military and civilian personnel, funding to support the growth of the Army and Marine Corps, and enough for 20 F-22A Raptors and 12 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The graph here shows the shares by major category. The table here indicates the budget shares by service and shows the Air Force and Navy have much lower increases than the Army. Caution: The amount shown for the Air Force—$136.6 billion—includes $25.9 billion in non-blue money the service doesn’t control.
A B-52H bomber launched a simulated AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response hypersonic missile at a target some 600 miles away during the ongoing Northern Edge exercise in Alaska, the Air Force said. The simulated shot was a success and demonstrated Airborne Battle Management System techniques to facilitate the kill chain for…