Bush seeks rise in weapons spending

The Bush administration will ask Congress to let the U.S. military spend $104.2 billion on weapons in fiscal 2009, an increase of 5.3 percent over the amount approved this year, according to Defense Department documents.

The proposal includes money for planes produced by Lockheed Martin Corp., trucks built by General Dynamics Corp. and BAE Systems P.L.C., a new family of armored vehicles built by Boeing Co., and helicopters produced by United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky Aircraft unit.

The Pentagon's overall budget, not counting $70 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, totals $515.4 billion and would increase for the 11th straight year.

Since President Bush took office, U.S. defense spending, not counting war costs, has increased about 30 percent when adjusted for inflation.

This "has been a remarkable period of sustained growth," one not seen since World War II, said Steven Kosiak, vice president of budget studies for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

The budget Bush submits to Congress on Monday will be his last and will not be "very meaningful" without a full accounting of war costs, Kosiak said.

The $70 billion is to cover the cost of the wars from Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, until a new administration takes over in January 2009.

War costs are running about $12 billion a month, of which about $9.2 billion is for Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Brian Maka, said Monday.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress has approved about $627 billion extra for the military, Congressional Research Service analyst Amy Belasco reported Dec. 12.

In addition to paying for the wars, this spending has covered Iraq reconstruction, base security, foreign aid, embassy costs and veterans' health care.

The fiscal 2010-2013 defense plan presented last year anticipated minimal growth, with defense spending declining when adjusted for inflation, Kosiak said.

"A new administration could change things," but it would "be very tough to continue with anything like the significant increases" seen "over the past seven years or so, given growing concerns about the size of the federal deficit and other budgetary pressures," he said.

The Pentagon's $515.4 billion base budget does not include $21 billion for the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons.

The budget to be presented Monday finances the military's annual operations, maintenance, health care, pay, construction and the research, development and purchase of weapons. Documents detailing each service's request were obtained from government officials.