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US Congressional Testimony, February 2002

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, February 12

Statement by Paul Wolfowitz, Us Deputy Secretary of Defense, to the House of Representatives Budget Committee, February 12.

New Defense Strategy

The 2003 budget request was guided by the results of last year's strategy review and the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), both of which involved an unprecedented degree of debate and discussion among the Department's most senior leaders. Out of this intense debate, we reached agreement on the urgent need for real changes in our defense strategy.

I might add that our conclusions have not gone unnoticed. One foreign observer reports that the QDR contains "the most profound implications" of the four major defense reviews conducted since the end of the Cold War. What is most compelling about this analysis is that it appears in a Chinese journal. That Chinese observer thinks the QDR's conclusions are important as a blueprint for where we go from here- and we think so, too. ...

Among the new directions set in the QDR, the following are among the most important:

First, we decided to move away from the two Major Theater War (MTW) force sizing construct, which called for maintaining forces capable of marching on and occupying the capitals of two adversaries and changing their regimes - at the same time. The new approach instead places greater emphasis on deterrence in four critical theaters, backed by the ability to swiftly defeat two aggressors at the same time, while preserving the option for one major offensive to occupy an aggressor's capital and replace the regime. By removing the requirement to maintain a second occupation force, we can free up resources for various lesser contingencies that might face us and also be able to invest for the future.

Second, to confront a world marked by surprise and substantial uncertainty, we agreed that we needed to shift our planning from the "threat-based" model that has guided our thinking in the past to a "capabilities-based" model for the future. We don't know who may threaten us or when or where. But, we do have some sense of what they may threaten us with and how. And we also have a sense of what capabilities can provide us important new advantages.

Third, this capabilities-based approach places great emphasis on defining where we want to go with the transformation of our forces. Transformation, as Secretary Rumsfeld has said, "is about an awful lot more than bombs and bullets and dollars and cents; it's about new approaches, it's about culture, it's about mindset and ways of thinking of things."

We identified six key transformational goals that define our highest priorities for investments in the 03-07 FYDP.

• First, to protect the US homeland and forces overseas;
• Second, to project and sustain power in distant theaters;
• Third, to deny enemies sanctuary, or places where they can hide and function.
• Fourth, to protect information networks from attack;
• Fifth, to use information technology to link up US forces so they can fight jointly; and
• Sixth, to maintain unhindered access to space - and protect US space capabilities from enemy attack. ...

All together, transformation programs account for roughly $21.1B, or 17 percent, of investment funding (RDT&E and procurement) in the President's 2003 budget request-rising to 22 percent over the five year FYDP. Let me discuss the details of the $21.1 billion...

1. Protecting Bases of Operation /Homeland Defense.

It is obvious today that our first goal, protecting our bases of operation and homeland defense, is an urgent priority-especially since we know that both terrorists and state-supporters of terrorism are actively looking to build or buy nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.

To meet our objective of making homeland defense the Department's top priority, the President's 2003 budget funds a number of programs. These include:

• $300 million to create a Biological Defense Homeland Security Support Program to improve US capabilities to detect and respond to biological attack against the American people and our deployed forces.
• $7.8 billion for a refocused and revitalized missile defense research and testing program that will explore a wide range of potential technologies that will be unconstrained by the ABM Treaty after June 2002, including:
• $623 million for the Patriot PAC III to protect our ground forces from cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile attack.
• $3.5 million for the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser that can be used by US ground forces to destroy enemy rockets, cruise missiles, artillery and mortar munitions.
• $598 million for the Airborne Laser (ABL), a speed of light "directed energy" weapon to attack enemy ballistic missiles in the boost-phase of flight-deterring an adversary's use of WMD since debris would likely land on their own territory.
• $534 million for an expanded test-bed for testing missile intercepts;
• $797 million for sea, air and space-based systems to defeat missiles during their boost phase...

2. Denying Enemies Sanctuary.

... The President's 2003 budget funds a number of programs designed to help us meet our objective of denying sanctuary to enemies. They include: ...

• $91 million for the Space-Based Radar, which will take a range of reconnaissance and targeting missions now performed by aircraft and move them to space, removing the risk to lives and the need for over-flight clearance;
• $54 million for development of a small diameter bomb, a much smaller, lighter weapon that will allow fighters and bombers to carry more ordnance and thus provide more kills per sortie;
• $1 billion for conversion of four Trident nuclear submarines into stealthy, high endurance SSGN Strike Submarines that can each carry over 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles and up to 66 Special Operations Forces into denied areas;
• $30 million for advanced energetic materials and new earth penetrator weapons to attack hardened and deeply buried targets. ...

6. Strengthening Space Operations.

Space is the ultimate "high ground." One of our top transformational goals is to harness the United States' advantages in space where we can see what adversaries are doing around the world and around the clock. As we move operations to space, we must also ensure the survivability of our space systems.

The President's 2003 budget includes funds for a number of programs designed to provide unmatched space capabilities and defenses. These include:

$88 million for Space Control Systems that enhance US ground based surveillance radar capabilities and, over time, move those surveillance capabilities into space;

$103.1 million for Directed Energy Technology to deny use of enemy electronic equipment with no collateral damage, to provide space control, and to pinpoint battlefield targets for destruction.

The 2003 budget requests about $200 million to strengthen space capabilities - $1.5 billion over the five year FYDP (2003-7) - an increase of 145 percent. ...

Source: Text - Wolfowitz Says 2003 Defense Budget Driven By New Strategy, US State Department (Washington File), February 13.

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