Congressional Budget Office

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Congressional Budget Office

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National Security

Defense spending accounted for about 20 percent of total federal spending in 2012. CBO analyzes the budgetary effects of proposed legislation related to national security and assesses the cost-effectiveness of current and proposed defense programs. CBO also evaluates federal programs and issues related to veterans.

Sub-Topics:

  • Defense Budget
  • Military Personnel
  • Iraq and Afghanistan
  • Weapon Systems

monthly archive

  • May 2013 (2)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (22)
  • February 2013 (10)
  • January 2013 (11)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (10)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (6)
  • August 2012 (5)
  • July 2012 (11)
  • June 2012 (8)
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CBO Releases Report on Costs of Pay and Benefits in the U.S. Military

blog post

November 14, 2012


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Technical Challenges of the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Program: Working Paper 2012-15

working paper

November 6, 2012

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Abstract

Bernard Kempinski and Christopher Murphy

The U.S. Army plans to spend about an additional $34 billion in 2013 dollars to develop and purchase a new armored vehicle for its infantry, the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV). The GCV is supposed to operate across the full range of potential conflict types while providing unprecedented levels of protection for the full squad of soldiers it will carry. To achieve the Army’s goals, the GCV would weigh from 64 to 84 tons, making it the biggest and heaviest infantry fighting vehicle that the Army has ever fielded—as big as the M1 Abrams tank and twice as heavy as the Bradley, the Army’s current infantry fighting vehicle. Designing such a vehicle presents important technical challenges.

To aid the Congress in its oversight of the GCV program, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has prepared two reports. This CBO working paper provides background information for understanding the technical challenges that the program faces. It presents the Army’s technical goals for the GCV program, examines the threats that the vehicle could face in combat, and explores the variety of approaches that vehicle designers can take to protect the vehicle and its passengers and to meet the Army’s other requirements. A companion report, The Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Program and Alternatives, examines the GCV program (including the number of vehicles, the production schedule, and the cost) and alternative approaches that the Army could take that would cost less but still provide substantial improvements over today’s fleet of combat vehicles.


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Options for Modernizing Military Weather Satellites: Working Paper 2012-11

working paper

September 20, 2012

read complete document  (pdf, 307 kb)

Abstract

By Michael Bennett

Over the next several years, the Department of Defense (DoD) will launch the last of its weather satellites, which it uses to plan military operations and generate weather forecasts. Long-running efforts to develop replacements for those satellites encountered schedule and cost difficulties, and in December 2011, the Congress directed DoD to cancel its latest program and to prepare for a follow-on program. DoD’s plans now call for a new development effort, but it has not yet determined the capabilities it wants in that satellite. In this paper, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examines three different satellite design concepts that DoD might consider and compares the cost and capability of those designs. The paper also discusses alternative approaches that DoD might take, such as fielding single instruments on several small satellites instead of several instruments on a single satellite and foregoing a new generation of military weather satellites altogether and instead relying on other sources for weather data.


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H.R. 6313, a bill to promote peaceful and collaborative resolution of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and its environs and other maritime areas adjacent to the East Asian mainland

cost estimate

September 14, 2012

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H.R. 6365, National Security and Job Protection Act

cost estimate

September 12, 2012

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H.R. 1775, Stolen Valor Act of 2012

cost estimate

August 23, 2012

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The Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Program and Alternatives

Apr 2013 - CBO compares the Army’s plan for the GCV with four options and finds that, although no option would meet all of the Army’s goals, all are likely to be less costly and pose a smaller risk of delay than CBO expects for the Army’s plan.

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related publications


  • An Analysis of the Navy's Amphibious Warfare Ships for Deploying Marines Overseas

    November 18, 2011

  • Long-Term Implications of the 2013 Future Years Defense Program

    July 11, 2012

  • An Analysis of the Navy's Fiscal Year 2012 Shipbuilding Plan

    June 23, 2011
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An Analysis of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2013 Shipbuilding Plan

report

July 25, 2012

read complete document  (pdf, 643 kb)

monthly archive

  • May 2013 (2)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (22)
  • February 2013 (10)
  • January 2013 (11)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (10)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (6)
  • August 2012 (5)
  • July 2012 (11)
  • June 2012 (8)
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CBO Estimates That the Navy’s Latest 30-Year Shipbuilding Plan Will Cost More Than the Navy Estimates

blog post

July 25, 2012


related publications


  • S. 3276, FAA Sunsets Extension Act of 2012

    July 19, 2012
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H.R. 5949, FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012

cost estimate

July 19, 2012

read complete document  (pdf, 21 kb)

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