Pacific forces wish list seeks $3.5 billion more than Biden budget

WASHINGTON — U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is asking Congress for a $3.5 billion plus-up over the president’s budget request as it seeks to bolster its presence in the region to deter China.

The command’s wish list is the largest request on the unfunded priorities lists of six combatant commands obtained by Defense News.

Africa Command came in a distant second at $397.8 million for its unfunded priorities list, which is largely devoted to developing a “persistent presence” in Somalia.

The $376.7 million Northern Command wish list asks for several key upgrades to the air defense architecture of North American Aerospace Defense Command. A significant portion of the $278.3 million list for Southern Command, which oversees U.S. forces in Latin America, is also allocated for air defenses.

European Command’s $159.5 million list also includes more cash to upgrade its bases against missile threats, while Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Greater Middle East, cites the threat of Iranian drones in its $280 million unfunded priorities list.

The total of those five commands amounts to less than half of Indo-Pacific Command’s unfunded priorities list, highlighting the Defense Department’s attempt to bolster its hard power in the region. The U.S. is expanding its troop presence and military cooperation with China’s neighbors , including a new basing agreement with the Philippines. The Pentagon also hopes to take its large cluster of forces in Northeast Asia and make them more diffuse throughout the region, placing more troops closer to Taiwan.

The largest chunk of Indo-Pacific Command’s unfunded priorities list asks Congress to allocate an extra $511 million for regional campaigning “to quickly mass forces multiple times a year as part of a synchronized set of operations, activities and investments.”

The command is seeking $117 million beyond President Joe Biden’s base budget for international security cooperation programs, such as training and equipping U.S. partners in the region and Maritime Security Initiative authorities. There’s also $49 million for a joint training team, $25.5 million for Joint Task Force Micronesia and another $9 million for Joint Task Force Indo-Pacific. It’s also seeking another $147 million to upgrade missile defenses in Guam.

Notably, about $357 million in the request would go toward the extended-range Standard Missile-6, an item identified as a high-priority munition by the White House, the Defense Department and lawmakers alike. Of that request, $277 million is for research and development, and $79.8 million for procuring the SM-6.

Biden’s base budget request would max out production lines for the missile .

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Republican, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, identified the SM-6 as a high-priority munition on the Senate floor in March. The White House issued a fact sheet on Friday arguing that a budget proposal from the conservative House Freedom Caucus would harm defense acquisitions, which also mentioned the missile.

An extensive portion of Indo-Pacific Command’s unfunded priority list also goes toward other munitions, including $493 million for the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and $151 million for the Precision Strike Missile.

The list does not specifically ask for additional funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, despite a $6 billion gap between the $15 billion that Indo-Pacific Command said it needed for that account in a congressionally mandated report to Congress and the $9 billion the Biden administration asked for in its base budget request.

The military combatant commands and services are required to submit unfunded priorities lists to Congress, and lawmakers often fund their request despite pushback from some members who argue they inflate the defense spending top line and that many of the additional asks should be part of the base budget request.

Africa Command leader Gen. Michael Langley argued that the resources he’s seeking in his unfunded priority request would provide for “a lodgment in Somalia” meant to “degrade the growing threat from Al Shabaab , assure freedom of navigation through the Bab Al Mandab sea-lane chokepoint and monitor the expanding Chinese presence in Djibouti.”

Northern Command’s wish list asks for $212 million for 3D expeditionary long-range radars “to fill surveillance gaps caused by existing radar failures;” $55 million in over-the-horizon capability acceleration; and $27 million for the ARCHER sensor in Alaska to advance air domain awareness capabilities.

Lawmakers expressed a renewed interest in modernizing North American Aerospace Defense Command’s air defense infrastructure with Canada — a multibillion-dollar effort — and voiced concerns about capability gaps after a Chinese surveillance balloon traversed the continental United States several weeks ago.

Biden met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa on Thursday to urge the northern neighbor to upgrade its NORAD sensors. The command is a joint effort between the two countries.

European Command’s list also asks for $78 million in air defense for its bases amid U.S. efforts to arm Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The document argues that the bases “will have limited options to mitigate the strategic air and missile attack threat” without those funds.

A large portion of the $278 million wish list for Southern Command also goes toward addressing domain awareness gaps in air defenses.

Central Command’s additional funding request included $14.7 million for tactical electronic surveillance systems to help detect Iranian drones. But the bulk of that request consists of $125 million for the pre-positioned stockpile of materiel in the Middle East.

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

华盛顿——美国印太司令部要求国会在总统的预算请求基础上增加 35 亿美元，以加强其在该地区的存在，从而威慑中国。

《防务新闻》获得的六个作战司令部未拨款优先事项清单中，该司令部的愿望清单是最大的。

非洲司令部在未拨款优先事项清单中排名第二，拨款额为 3.978 亿美元，主要用于在索马里建立“持久存在”。

北方司令部提出的3.767亿美元预算清单要求对北美防空司令部的防空体系进行多项关键升级。负责指挥驻拉美美军的南方司令部提出的2.783亿美元预算清单中，也有相当一部分用于防空系统。

欧洲司令部的 1.595 亿美元预算清单中还包括更多资金，用于升级其基地以应对导弹威胁；而负责监督美国在大中东地区部队的中央司令部，在其 2.8 亿美元的未拨款优先事项清单中，则提到了伊朗无人机的威胁。

这五个司令部加起来还不到印太司令部未获拨款优先事项清单的一半，凸显了美国国防部试图加强其在该地区的硬实力。美国正在扩大其在该地区驻军规模，并加强与中国邻国的军事合作，包括与菲律宾签署新的基地协议。五角大楼还希望将其在东北亚的庞大兵力集群分散部署到整个地区，并在靠近台湾的地方部署更多部队。

印太司令部未拨款优先事项清单中最大的一项是要求国会额外拨款 5.11 亿美元用于区域战役，“以便每年多次快速集结兵力，作为一系列同步行动、活动和投资的一部分”。

该司令部正在寻求在拜登总统基本预算之外追加1.17亿美元，用于国际安全合作项目，例如培训和装备该地区的美国伙伴以及海上安全倡议。此外，该司令部还寻求4900万美元用于组建联合训练小组，2550万美元用于密克罗尼西亚联合特遣部队，以及900万美元用于印太联合特遣部队。该司令部还寻求额外1.47亿美元用于升级关岛的导弹防御系统。

值得注意的是，此次拨款申请中约有3.57亿美元将用于研发远程标准-6导弹，白宫、国防部和国会议员均将其列为高优先级弹药。在这3.57亿美元中，2.77亿美元用于研发，7980万美元用于采购标准-6导弹。

拜登的基本预算请求将使导弹生产线达到产能上限。

参议院军事委员会首席共和党议员、来自密西西比州的罗杰·威克尔 (Roger Wicker) 3 月份在参议院发言时，将 SM-6 导弹列为高优先级弹药。白宫周五发布了一份情况说明书，指出保守派众议院自由党团提出的预算提案将损害国防采购，其中也提到了这款导弹。

印太司令部未拨款优先清单中的很大一部分也用于其他弹药，包括 4.93 亿美元的“战斧”陆攻导弹和 1.51 亿美元的“精确打击”导弹。

尽管印太司令部在国会授权提交的报告中表示，太平洋威慑倡议需要 150 亿美元，而拜登政府在其基本预算请求中要求 90 亿美元，两者之间存在 60 亿美元的缺口，但该清单并未明确要求为太平洋威慑倡议追加资金。

各军事作战司令部和军种必须向国会提交未拨款优先事项清单，尽管一些议员反对，认为这些清单会夸大国防开支总额，而且许多额外要求应该包含在基本预算请求中，但议员们通常还是会批准他们的请求。

非洲司令部司令迈克尔·兰利将军辩称，他在未获拨款的优先请求中寻求的资源将用于“在索马里设立一个据点”，旨在“削弱青年党日益增长的威胁，确保通过曼德海峡咽喉要道的航行自由，并监控中国在吉布提不断扩大的存在”。

北方司令部的愿望清单要求拨款 2.12 亿美元用于 3D 远征远程雷达，“以填补现有雷达故障造成的监视空白”；拨款 5500 万美元用于加速超视距能力；以及拨款 2700 万美元用于在阿拉斯加部署 ARCHER 传感器，以提升空中领域感知能力。

议员们对与加拿大合作，对北美防空司令部的防空基础设施进行现代化改造表现出了新的兴趣——这是一项耗资数十亿美元的工程——并在几周前中国侦察气球飞越美国大陆后，对能力差距表示担忧。

拜登周四在渥太华会见了加拿大总理贾斯汀·特鲁多，敦促这个北方邻国升级其北美防空司令部（NORAD）的传感器。该司令部是两国共同合作的成果。

欧洲司令部的预算清单中还包括为旗下基地申请7800万美元的防空资金，以应对美国为抵御俄罗斯入侵而向乌克兰提供武器的情况。该文件指出，如果没有这笔资金，这些基地“在应对战略性空中和导弹袭击威胁方面将面临诸多限制”。

南方司令部 2.78 亿美元的愿望清单中，很大一部分也用于解决防空领域的态势感知差距。

中央司令部追加的拨款申请中包括1470万美元，用于购置战术电子监视系统，以帮助探测伊朗无人机。但该申请的大部分资金（1.25亿美元）用于在中东预先部署的物资储备。

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。