Sen. Roger Wicker is calling for a $55 billion increase in defense spending next year as part of a plan to rebuild the military, saying the U.S. needs an upgrade as a deterrent to potential wars.
Mr. Wicker, Mississippi Republican and the highest-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, is proposing a “generational investment” for the defense budget. He called for the $55 billion increase in the 2025 fiscal year defense budget, along with boosting defense spending to 5% of U.S. gross national product over the next five to seven years.
“It is far past time to rebuild America’s military. We can avoid war by preparing for it,” Mr. Wicker said in the 52-page plan.
“We do not need to spend this much indefinitely — but we do need a short-term generational investment to help us prevent another world war,” Mr. Wicker said in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday that outlined why the plan is needed.
He said the “emerging Axis of Aggressors,” like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, are working to undermine the country’s interests.
“Worse yet, these governments are materially helping one another, cooperating in new ways to prevent an American-led 21st century. Iran has provided Russia with battlefield drones, and China is sending technical and logistical help to aid Mr. Putin’s war [against Ukraine],” he said.
“They are also helping one another prepare for future fights by increasing weapons transfers and to evade sanctions. Their unprecedented coordination makes new global conflict increasingly possible,” he said.
The blueprint for the report, “21st Century Peace Through Strength: A Generational Investment in the U.S. Military,” would boost the U.S. Navy’s fleet to 357 ships by 2035, and produce at least 340 additional fighter jets for the Air Force over five years. The Navy says it currently has more than 280 ships ready to be deployed.
“Americans have grown far too comfortable under the decades-old presumption of overwhelming military superiority,” Mr. Wicker said. “And that false sense of security has led us to ignore necessary maintenance and made us vulnerable.”
The price of the plan is unlikely to keep pace with inflation, and Mr. Wicker told The Associated Press that he knows it would be “a hill to climb” to convince his colleagues in Congress to go above spending caps.
“Regaining American strength will be expensive. But fighting a war — and worse, losing one — is far more costly,” he wrote in the op-ed. “We need to begin a national conversation today on how we achieve a peaceful, prosperous and American-led 21st century. The first step is a generational investment in the U.S. military.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.