The Congressional Budget Office has said the Trump administration’s goals to increase the U.S. military size, readiness and capabilities would result in a base budget of approximately $688 billion in 2018 dollars by 2027.
CBO said in its December 2017 report the number of individuals who will serve in the military would rise by 10 percent or about 237,000 people under the administration’s defense goals.
Other factors that would drive cost increases after 2018 include the U.S. Navy’s plan to boost its fleet of combat ships to 355 and the military’s procurement of new weapons and increased research spending on future weapon systems, according to the agency.
CBO predicts the cumulative costs of meeting the current administration’s 2018 goals for the military through 2027 would be $683 billion higher than the projected costs of the Obama administration’s fiscal year 2017 defense plan.
The agency also estimates that the implementation of the Trump administration’s plan to increase the size of the armed forces would result in $342 billion in costs between 2019 and 2027.
The total projected national defense costs would exceed the budget caps by about $295 billion from 2018 through 2021 if the Defense Department’s costs increase at the rate of inflation, the report added.