Providing for the Common Defense: What 10 Years of Progress Would Look Like

Publication Date: February 2008

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): James Jay Carafano; Baker Spring; Mackenzie M. Eaglen

Research Area: Military and defense

Keywords: National security; missile defense; nuclear weapons; defense spending

Type: Report

Abstract:

The U.S. military must cap manpower costs, adapt Reserve Component forces, maintain access to cutting-edge technologies, deploy a robust missile defense system, obtain military space capabilities, and modernize the nuclear weapons force to address post-Cold War requirements. Congress should fund national defense at no less than 4 percent of GDP for the next 10 years and reform entitlement spending.