The Defense Department fiscal year 2024 budget request is still focused on the National Defense Strategy, said Michael J. McCord, undersecretary of defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer, who spoke today at a McAleese-sponsored event in Washington, D.C.
As such, there are not a lot of surprises in this budget, he said. An emphasis in this budget of note is munitions, he said.
"Ukraine has certainly informed us of the lack of flexibility in our industrial base … We are going to up our game," he said, adding that DOD and the industrial base need to be a little better and more agile.
A solution being put into place is multiyear procurement for munitions, which is similar to the procurement process for ships and aircraft, he said, meaning it will keep the assembly lines running and employees working, along with cost efficiencies.
These are not Ukraine, ground-centric type munitions. They are Indo-Pacific-centric munitions, McCord said, meaning procurance adhering to the NDS which speaks to China as the pacing threat.
The FY24 budget for munitions is $30.6 billion, an increase of $5.8 billion above the FY23 request, he said.
The munitions procurement, he said, includes:
-- $5.6 billion for ammunition
-- $17.3 billion for tactical missiles
-- $7.3 billion for strategic missiles
-- $0.6 billion for technology development
McCord said modernizing the nuclear triad, space program, research and development, and science and technologies are among some of the other priorities.
Lastly, McCord said it's not all about the programs, weapons or platform. A priority is also taking care of the people.
This includes a 5.2% pay raise, informed by the rate of the private sector wage increases last year, he said.
Some other things include making relocations easier for families, and a continued commitment to ensuring contract prices is below public sector prices, he said.
Also, incentivizing more people to work at childcare centers, he added.
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