WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget is requesting $686.1 billion in military funding, with a focus on great power competition with Russia and China, the Pentagon announced Monday morning.

The request includes $617 billion in base budget funding and $69 billion in cap-exempt wartime funds, part of the administration’s expected $716 billion national security request (which includes Department of Energy nuclear programs).

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Sunday the new two-year budget agreement would allow the military to be reshaped “back to a position of primacy.”

The administration’s new national security strategy is prioritizing strategic competition with near-peer adversaries over counterterrorism. With the respite from budget instability, the Pentagon is rebuilding “to address the changing forms of warfare and to bring the current capabilities up,” Mattis said.

Congress raised budget caps for defense by $165 billion through fiscal 2019 under a bipartisan budget agreement Congress approved last week. That sets a clear path, versus the spending fights and budget instability that have dominated Congress for the past few years.

Trump’s second budget plan contains a manpower increase of 25,900. It also calls for the purchase of 10 new naval ships in fiscal 2019, and would enable the Air Force to grow from 55 combat squadrons to 58 over the next five years.

The budget plan also calls for more than $1 trillion in defense spending over the Obama administration’s 10-year plan, arguing that “failure to provide adequate funding to meet these defense objectives would embolden America’s enemies.”

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Seeking savings, the budget continues a congressionally mandated 25 percent headquarters reduction, despite the the split of the office of the chief weapons buyer into two new offices. It skips the Pentagon’s customary request for base closures.

Trump's 2019 budget calls for 2.6 percent pay raise, thousands more troops Lawmakers still have to finalize their fiscal 2018 spending plans before debating how the fiscal 2019 money should be allotted.

Acquisitions

The Department of Defense has requested funds to modernize equipment for a second Army armored combat team, to buy 10 combat ships, and to increase production of the F-35 and F/A-18 aircraft.

The budget earmarks $236.7 billion for acquisitions. Of that, $144.3 billion is for procurement and $92.4 billion is for research, development, test and evaluation. Major defense acquisition programs take up $92.3 billion.

One of the largest increases is for the vaguely worded “mission support activities,” which jumps $16.9 billion, from $49.9 billion in FY18 to $66.8 billion in FY19.

Twenty-eight percent of the entire investment budget request includes various departmental capabilities, such as live-fire test and evaluation, classified special programs and the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization — which is researching counter-drone technologies.

Major war-fighting investments



Mission support activities: $66.8 billion

Aircraft and related systems: $55.2 billion



Shipbuilding and maritime systems: $33.1 billion



Missiles and munitions: $20.7 billion



Ground systems: $15.9 billion



Science and Technology $13.7 billion



Missile defense programs: $12 billion



C4I systems: $10 billion



Space-based systems: $9.3 billion



Space



Five Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles: $2 billion

Global positioning systems: $1.5 billion



Missile defense



43 Aegis ballistic missile defense (SM-3): $1.7 billion

Ground-based Midcourse Defense: $2.1 billion



82 THAAD ballistic missile defense: $1.1 billion



240 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3): $1.1 billion



Aircraft



77 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters: $10.7 billion

15 KC-46 tanker replacements: $30 billion



24 F/A-18s: $2 billion



60 AH-64E attack helicopters: $1.3 billion



Six VH-92 presidential helicopters: $0.9 billion



Eight CH-53K King Stallions: $1.6 billion



Shipbuilding

Two Virginia-class submarines: $7.4 billion

Three DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyers: $6 billion



One littoral combat ship: $1.3 billion



CVN-78 class aircraft carrier: $1.8 billion



Two fleet replenishment oilers: $1.1 billion



One expeditionary sea base: $0.7 billion



Ground systems



5,113 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles: $2 billion

135 M-1 Abrams tank modifications: $2.7 billion



30 amphibious combat vehicles: $0.3 billion



197 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles: $0.8 billion

