America's wartime defense budget: $1.5 trillion to deliver a military able to fight everyone - except China.....

About this episode

Marcus and Michael discuss the implications of the Trump Administration's $1.5 trillion defense budget and its impact on military readiness against adversaries like China and Russia.

Back in the SAA Bunker deep in the Brindabellas, Marcus & Michael declare energy independence (okay, thanks to government subsidies) and ponder the details of the Trump Administration's new Defense budget. $1.5 trillion dollars delivers an all you can eat buffet of spending for everyone involved in the Military Industrial Complex. The traditional big end of town - Lockheed, RTX Raytheon, Northrop and Boeing get cash, & so do tech bro outfits like Anduril & Palantir. Just the US Army's missile budget is now bigger than the total budget of the US State Department - take that you peacenik diplomats. America First is looking like not just having a Department of War, but an entire Government of War. There are some minor problems: 1. given the real world usage rates in Iran, this 43% increase in annual spending won't produce enough expensive missiles & interceptors to fight even a short war with an adversary like China - so, not the strongest deterrent message. And 2. it looks a courageous assumption to think that US defence industry can ramp up at the scale and speed this cash splash desires. The budget describes a bad plan, that fails to adjust to the practical…

People in this episode

Hosts: Marcus, Michael

Topics covered

• defense budget
• military spending
• US military
• politics
• China
• Russia
• military industrial complex

Keywords

• defense budget
• military industrial complex
• Trump Administration
• China
• Russia
• missile budget
• US Army
• spending
• politics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trump Administration, Lockheed, RTX Raytheon, Northrop, Boeing, Anduril, Palantir, US State Department

Places: Iran, China, Russia

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