DefenceTalkChina plans to raise its central government defense budget by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan (114.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, according to a budget report submitted to the national legislature for review on Tuesday. The military spending will be used to improve living and working conditions of service people, make the armed forces […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-defense-budget-to-grow-10-7-in-2013-report-47066/

DefenceTalkLarge and sudden U.S. spending cuts and an unstable budget environment promise long-term damage to a critical segment of the defense industrial base, the Defense Department’s top maintenance official recently told a congressional panel. John Johns, deputy assistant secretary of defense for maintenance policy and programs, testified last week before the House Armed Services readiness […]https://www.defencetalk.com/budget-cuts-threaten-defense-industrial-base-official-says-47050/

DefenceTalkBeggars can’t be choosers. When a government accumulates trillion-dollar deficits year after year, eventually there is a day of reckoning. For the U.S. military, that day is now. Although the Pentagon continues to see a global landscape brimming with security challenges, it appears the political system has stopped listening. Or perhaps it just prefers the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defense-downturn-which-missions-will-go-away-47055/

DefenceTalkChina’s national legislature declined to announce the country’s 2013 defence budget at a press conference Monday, in a departure from normal practice the day before its annual session opens. Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the National People’s Congress (NPC), which begins Tuesday, responded with frustration when she was asked about military spending at a press conference […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-legislature-declines-to-reveal-defence-spending-47045/

DefenceTalkAlong with al-Qaida, nuclear proliferation and cyber threats, budget instability and the prospect of further deep spending cuts are among the nation’s most pressing national security challenges, top defense intelligence officials told a congressional panel yesterday. Michael G. Vickers, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn […]https://www.defencetalk.com/officials-cuts-unstable-budget-threaten-intelligence-mission-47004/

DefenceTalkJust before his private swearing-in ceremony as the 24th secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel and his wife, Lilibet, arrived at the Pentagon this morning and were greeted by Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, military assistant to the secretary of defense. Hagel said hello to waiting members of the Pentagon press corps as he […]https://www.defencetalk.com/hagel-takes-office-as-24th-secdef-46984/

DefenceTalkIn the midst of a major modernization drive, the Defence Ministry on Thursday got a 14 per cent hike in its budget as Finance Minister P Chidambaram gave it Rs 2,03,672 crore (($37.45 billion–Ed) for 2013-14 with a promise to provide any additional fund required for national security. Thursday’s allocation is up by Rs 25,169 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-ups-2013-defense-spending-46965/

DefenceTalkChina’s military has introduced new rules to combat “extravagance and waste” in spending, state media said Sunday, as the country’s new leaders stress austerity to fight official corruption. New Communist Party chief Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, approved the rules which aim to promote austerity and control expenditure, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-takes-aim-at-extravagance-in-military-spending-46949/

DefenceTalkNATO has said it is strongly considering a proposal to extend funding for a security force of Afghan troops through 2018. The proposal comes amid speculation that the US will reduce support for post-2014 operations. NATO is considering plans to continue supporting about 350,000 Afghan troops in the country until 2018, its Secretary General Anders […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-mulls-funding-afghan-troops-through-2018-46911/

DefenceTalkDeep, across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 would cause chaos for the Defense Department, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said in a televised interview yesterday. Carter told Judy Woodruff on “PBS Newshour” that the department will do what it can to minimize disruptions should the cuts kick in, but it can […]https://www.defencetalk.com/spending-cuts-would-cause-chaos-carter-says-46905/