United States Defence and Security Report Q1 2013

Barak Obama was re-elected President in November 2012. While details regarding the president'sdefence policy are awaited at the time of writing (November 2012), the United States is expected tocontinue with its plans to withdraw the bulk of its forces from Afghanistan by 2015.As the US reduces its footprint in the country, it will hand over an increasing share of the security burdento the Afghan National Army and police force.

The eventual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan is expected to yield significant savings to theDepartment of Defense budget. For fiscal year (FY) 2013, President Obama has requested US$525.4bn.During the next decade, the Pentagon is expected to make budget savings of up to US$487bn, which willbe achieved, in part, by the cessation of military operations in Afghanistan.

Over the long term, the US will make a major reduction in the size of its strategic nuclear weaponsinventory. Currently, around 5,000 operational and reserve nuclear warheads are in the possession of theUS armed forces, including around 200 tactical nuclear weapons. The New START (Strategic ArmsReduction Treaty) agreement between Russia and the US will see the Department of Defense reduce itsair-launched and sea-launched nuclear weapons delivery systems.

Although ballistic missile defence efforts proved highly controversial during the administration ofPresident George W. Bush, they have continued, albeit in a different form, under President Obama'sadministration. The Missile Defence Agency, the branch of the Pentagon supervising ballistic missiledefence initiatives, is currently pursuing several programmes aimed at destroying ballistic missiles duringtheir boost, ascent, midcourse and terminal phases of flight.

Missile defence technology is only one area that the Pentagon is pouring significant funds. TheDepartment of Defense continues to pursue several major defence acquisition projects, not least of whichis the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning-II Joint Strike Fighter family of combat aircraft. This is inaddition to scores of other programmes across all five US armed services. The abiding raison d'être ofmany of these initiatives is to make the force more agile and deployable, while at the same timeimproving the connectivity between soldiers, vehicles, weapons and command and control systems.

Since Q412, BMI has made some changes to the United States Defence and Security Report. Theseinclude

Full details regarding future and ongoing procurement programmes across the United StatesArmy, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

Details regarding procurement activities performed by all four services during Q412.