WASHINGTON, D.C. – The US spends almost nine hundred billion dollars a year on the defense budget but reports continue to say the military
may not be ready to fight any sustained war.
South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds says the defense budget is more focused on personnel…..
We do pay more in our system but that’s because we actually have a payroll for our armed services.  Other countries may not pay their soldiers, sailors, or their air force what we pay ours.
Rounds says there is a lot spent on developing new weapons systems.
We also are developing new weapons systems  And we are very good at. It costs a lot of money. it keeps us out of that stragtegic war that we don’t want to have. The most expensive war is the one you actually have to go in and fight. The least expensive war is the one you’ve prepared for but you never have to do battle.”
Rounds says the war in Ukraine is forcing military planners to rethink possible strategic operations.
Ukraines have been a good example of that.  On both sides, there’s a whole lot more ammunition then planners thought. We’re pretty specific about how much we use and that we target areas. But in a major war with any of our adversaries, the chance to have those accurate weapons systems work becomes less because the adversary would take out our overhead operations systems.”
Rounds says the US has to be able to confront rising threats from China and Iran.
