The Department of Defense has not shortchanged itself since 9/11. Over the last 10 years, the military spent about $1 trillion on new weapons and war-fighting equipment, according to a think tank’s report. Of the total spent, 22% came not from the regular defense budget, but from supplemental war funding intended to finance the day-to-day fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

“What We Bought: Defense Procurement from FY01 to FY10” by the Henry L. Stimson Center says the armed services “capitalized” on defense appropriations approved by Congress in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, ordering and buying new ships, advanced aircraft, battlefield tanks and much more.

 

In effect, the military was able to “modernize their forces, especially the major weapons programs that constitute the heart of the services’ capabilities,” according to the report’s author, Russell Rumbaugh, a retired U.S. Army officer and former military analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

In addition to using funds appropriated specifically for new weapons, the services burned up $233 billion in money dedicated for the wars to instead manufacture American weaponry and other hardware.

 

The Army, for example, stocked up on M107 Long Range Sniper Rifles (made by Barrett), Armored Security Vehicles (made by Textrone), Hercules transport planes (made by Lockheed) and M4 carbine firearms (made by Colt).

 

For its part, the Navy accumulated Zumwalt class destroyers (manufactured by General Dynamics), Virginia-class attack submarines (made by General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman), Nimitz-class aircraft carriers (made by Newport News Shipbuilding) and amphibious transport ships used for landing troops (made by Northrop Grumman).

 

In the process of spending $1 trillion since 2001, the military bought some extremely expensive items. For example, the Pentagon allocated $4 billion in 2010 to buy just 25 aircraft—which averages out to about $160 million per plane.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11 (by Adam Weinstein, Mother Jones)

What We Bought:  Defense Procurement from FY01 to FY10 (by Russell Rumbaugh, Henry L. Stimson Center) (pdf)