The Pentagon’s budget is going to shrink and Americans are going to get a better “bang for their buck” under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“Did you notice that of all the controversial Trump nominees—Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, RFK, Tulsi Gabbard—the Left went after Pete Hegseth the most vehemently? And he required JD Vance to break that tie. There was a reason for that. He is proposing radical changes in the Pentagon. Remember where we are right now with the Pentagon. We spend $820 billion a year. It's about 14% of the entire budget and it's immune to criticism. It really is.
“And we are building $14 billion carriers. We're building $85 million F-35s. We have built $140 million F-22s. And we're watching, in Ukraine and the Middle East, the entire mode of 21st-century warfare being revolutionized. It's more of—not that we're going to have bad quality, but it's more quantity than quality. They're flooding the zones with cheap drones—cheap drones on the ocean, in the air, and on land.
“And we're not there yet. We're not doing it. So, what Pete Hegseth wants to do is change the entire manner of procurement.”
He said a whole lot of good in that six minutes.
ReplyDeleteFederal spending on defense has been cost plus for as long as I can remember.... This leads to cost over runs and late deliveries... Also in a world where a few hundred to thousand dollar drones can sink a ship the defense department needs a fresh look at war fighting to win
ReplyDeleteJD
"An aircraft carrier is a large bladder of jet fuel wrapped around high explosives. This is worth remembering." Fred Reed
ReplyDeleteSTOP BUILDING THEM!