US defense is precariously stuck on 9/11

Since the bombing of Iran started in late February, the commander in chief has tried to cajole U.S. defense contractors into manufacturing more weapons, fast. In March, he convened executives from BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace and L3Harris Technologies at the White House. Three months later, Trump issued a similar, more harried, request, which included the Pentagon pushing back on the industry’s optimistic production timelines. In July, he traveled to Pennsylvania to twist arms again: “We have the best quality in the world, but we need a little more speed.” As pricey missile orders pile up, modern technology is rapidly changing tactics on the ground and in the air. The U.S. military industrial complex faces another inflection point, just as it did in 2001, when blueprints and equipment from previous conflicts started becoming obsolete. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have provided live testing zones for cheap and nimble drone warfare. Asymmetric strategies that can shut down shipping lanes or paralyze economic activity are helping level battlefields with larger and wealthier adversaries, just as the 9/11 attacks did. These developments are quickly exposing the folly of Trump’s commitment to legacy systems like the F-35 fighter plane, a two-ocean Navy and full-scale revitalization of the U.S. nuclear weapons programs. It is slowing the broader reorientation to modern warfare. Two decades of war and military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond following 9/11 have cost more than $8 trillion, according to a Brown University tally. They include ongoing healthcare commitments to treat veterans and everyday "base budget" expenses that ran beyond $2 trillion through 2022. The Trump administration’s decision to remain at war, after promising to be a president who avoided them, led to a $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027, 50% more than for the previous year. It's an anachronistic approach that mortgages the country's future. For one thing, the United States is not getting enough literal bang for its buck. Although the weapons may be the most sophisticated and expensive ones on the planet, its adversaries are succeeding with cheap unmanned armies. For weeks when the latest Middle East siege began, U.S. and allied forces chased down thousands of Iran's Shahed drones, which cost an estimated $35,000 apiece, with Patriot missile interceptors that run about $4 million each. Such waste seems to be a feature, not a bug. For decades, the U.S. military has struggled with its advanced fighter jet program, the F-35. A joint production with approximately 2,000 defense contractors led by Lockheed Martin, the plane’s development has been “plagued by mounting costs and delays,” a 2024 government report said. It noted a “staggering" $2 trillion price tag over several decades. The math is getting worse, too: costly upgrades and maintenance have prompted the Air Force and Navy to cut down on overall flight hours for the crown jewel in their fleet. There’s plenty of demand for the F-35, but it increasingly features in broader debates. Spurned U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are growing reluctant to buy American materiel. Moreover, Germany and Canada are among the countries to have raised concerns about the lethal jet being remotely controlled or otherwise influenced by U.S. authorities. The din grew loud enough that Lockheed and the Department of Defense formally denied the claims last year, but the supersonic aircraft will become less attractive to buyers as more cost-effective weaponry comes along and if diplomatic relations do not improve after Trump leaves office. Ukraine's war may prove instructive. Kyiv initially turned to German Leopard and U.S. Abrams tanks. The $10 million armored vehicles became top targets for Russian drones, however, and now serve a limited front-line role. The U.S. military is at least making some strides toward modern warfare. For 2027, the Pentagon asked for $70 billion to develop drones and counter-drone systems. It's spending billions to develop the Space Force, a sixth military branch started by Trump in 2019, and investing in satellites with contractors including SpaceX. At the same time, the budget calls for the creation of new “Trump class” battleships using expensive technology and decades-long procurement schedules. It could easily become the next F-35 boondoggle weighing down the pursuit of faster and cheaper weapons. WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Days after hijacked planes attacked the United States 25 years ago, Congress passed a $40 billion emergency spending package to fund recovery and an initial military response. One legislator, Democrat Dave Obey, caught a glimpse into the future: the law, he said, merely represented “a down payment” in a “nasty struggle.” It would indeed turn out to be a tiny upfront price for a quarter-century drain, and counting, on the country's coffers. President Donald Trump is using taxpayer money to fund a costly war in Iran that has reached crisis levels. Top military brass delivered a dire assessment to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in recent weeks: extended conflict is unsustainable due to severe munitions shortages and overstretched troop deployments. Worse, an obsession with complex gadgetry keeps U.S. strategy stuck in a Cold War past. Before September 11, 2001, the United States was collecting peace dividends. The annual military budget was about $280 billion, or about $550 billion in today's dollars, amid a broad shutdown of overseas bases following the collapse of the Soviet Union. By last year, the tally exceeded $900 billion, more than twice as much as China after adjusting for labor costs and purchasing power. Before any new war-related increases, defense makes up half of all discretionary spending in an annual budget with a $2.1 trillion deficit. Any fiscal policy that tackles costs seriously will be up against this unsustainable growth.

US defense is precariously stuck on 9/11

Weapons spending, drones and the F-35 problem

Pentagon budget points to more spending, not less

Modernization still collides with legacy procurement

Defense spending remains tied to post-9/11 priorities

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