President Joe Biden's proposed $773 billion budget for the Defense Department would increase spending on nuclear modernization as well as research and development while provoking likely opposition in Congress through proposals to cut back on army troops and retire ageing Navy ships and Air Force planes.
The defence budget proposal is part of an $813.3 billion national security request that includes the nuclear arsenal maintained by the Energy Department and the FBI's national security functions.
The plane, capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional weapons, would get $5 billion in combined research and procurement, up about $2 billion from the current year.
Still, total spending on nuclear weapons and systems research and procurement would grow to $34.4 billion from this year's $27.7 billion requests and the $33 billion projected for fiscal 2023 in the final Trump budget plan.
The budget request earmarks $130.1 billion for research and development - the Pentagon's largest-ever and about $15.6 billion more than the White House budget office projected last year.
It includes $16.5 billion for science and technology innovation, $4.7 billion for hypersonic weapons, $3.3 billion for microelectronics and 5G initiatives, $3.2 billion for the B-21 bomber and $1 billion for a new Air Force-managed "Resilient Missile Missile Warning/Missile Tracking system" intended to spot Chinese and Russian hypersonic systems.
Army Request The army's $178 billion requests reflect a modest increase of almost $3 billion over this year's enacted budget.
