Not since the heady days of the Ronald Reagan administration has defence procurement had such a high profile on both sides of the Atlantic, or been the subject of such intense debate. In fact, despite his image (and Nobel Prize) as a peace-maker, President Barack Obama's $538bn 'base' defence budget, which does not include the estimated $130bn ongoing cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will take US defence spending to record levels next year. It is more than $20bn higher (in 2010 dollar terms) than Reagan's previous high-water mark in 1985 and the highest level since World War Two, according to the respected Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).

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