Following a steep increase in Pentagon procurement spending in the base budget (in other words, not including direct war funding) that started in 2006, the Pentagon and Congress have seemingly woken up to the fact that spending on weapon systems is not a bottomless well.  The defense authorization bill passed by the Senate today sets procurement spending at about $98 billion. But even in these ‘austere’ times for Pentagon weapons procurement, the bill would spend $6 billion on the F-35 fighter.  It also authorizes $1.7 billion for an additional four Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Designed to operate in two vastly different environments, the LCS is doomed to do poorly at both. And then there is $178 million in the bill for M-1 Abrams tanks that the Pentagon never asked for.

It is well past the time when the Congress can devote scarce procurement dollars on programs that may never meet their original mission requirements or those that the Pentagon no longer wants to buy. Lawmakers need to trim their wish lists to meet the harsh fiscal realities facing the country. Spending more will not necessarily make us safer, but spending smarter will make us stronger.