A top Republican ranking senator in the Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed a comprehensive military defense plan to rebuild the U.S. military for generations and to counter adversaries.
Mr. Wicker noted that the plan “will enable the United States to fix our failing defense infrastructure, field a new generation of equipment, and maintain American technological leadership.”
The senator from Mississippi raised concerns that U.S. adversaries, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), have increased their aggression and defense spending to modernize their military, undermining U.S. interests.
“The emerging axis of aggressors is undermining U.S. interests across the globe and our current defense investment does not meet the moment,” he warned. “Our defense industrial base is underfunded and unprepared for the wars of today, tomorrow, and the foreseeable future.”
“U.S. military failure against China would drastically change the course of the 21st century, rendering the decades to come far darker for Americans, as well as the rest of the free world, economically, politically, and culturally,” Mr. Wicker warned.
He stated that his defense investment plan aims to achieve two main strategic goals for the U.S. military: preventing broader conflicts and revitalizing military infrastructure and equipment, which establish a robust and sustainable defense industrial base as well as sustain American innovation for future generations. Such a long-term investment would protect one of America’s key national security strengths: its national security innovation base.
“The best way to avoid further conflict is to be ready. Today’s security challenges demand a generational investment to revitalize our armed forces—investments that would restore America’s military strength for decades to come,” Mr. Wicker wrote.
In addition to the CCP, Mr. Wicker highlighted threats from other U.S. adversaries, including Russia, North Korea, and Iran, as reasons for his historic national defense investment plan.
Mr. Wicker’s full plan is laid out in a 52-page paper he has been working on for the past year. In it, he makes the case for a new generation of weapons, pointing to an aging American arsenal as Russia moves to expand its territory in Europe and the Chinese regime tries to show increasing dominance in parts of the Pacific.
He said in his proposal that the United States faces “the most dangerous threat environment since World War II” and urges a national war footing appropriate for a long, drawn-out conflict with a major world power. He offered detailed recommendations on over 20 focus areas, including everything from addressing deferred maintenance on U.S. military facilities that don’t have the right voltage on power outlets to preparing for nuclear weaponry in space.
Back to the Reagan Era
In his plan, Mr. Wicker mentioned U.S. military successes during the Reagan era, noting that the military buildup at that time significantly enhanced U.S. capabilities, contributing to victories in the Cold War and the Gulf War. He argued that after 40 years, a similar buildup is needed.U.S. defense spending when measured as a portion of GDP is currently about 3 percent and has been declining since the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has not reached above 5 percent since the early 1990s.
Mr. Wicker highlighted that the current defense budget of 3 percent of GDP is insufficient, noting that in the 1980s during the Reagan era, the budget was nearly 6 percent. He said this investment created a military capable of maintaining deterrence against Moscow and responding effectively to aggression, as demonstrated in the Gulf War and other conflicts in subsequent decades.
“This defense buildup would set up the U.S. military for sustained success over the next two to three decades, as the Reagan-era buildup did in the 1980s. This program is a generational investment that will revive the U.S. military and put it on a stable path for the entirety of the 21st century,” the plan states.
