Senator Wicker Unveils Plan To Boost Defence Spending

Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, has bucked the Republican Party’s growing isolationism and called for a major military buildup which would boost defence spending by USD$55 billion - to 5% of GDP.

• Wicker wrote in a New York Times op-ed: “We struggle to build and maintain ships, our fighter jet fleet is dangerously small, and our military infrastructure is outdated. Meanwhile, America’s adversaries are growing their militaries and getting more aggressive.”
• Wicker adds: “We may find ourselves in a state of extreme vulnerability in a matter of a few years, according to a growing consensus of experts. Our military readiness could be at its lowest point in decades just as China’s military in particular hits its stride.”
• Semafor reports that Wicker's plan, “calls for permanently stationing an armored brigade combat team in Poland; increasing rotational force deployments to eastern Europe; considering the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula; loosening restrictions on foreign military sales to Gulf nations; building a 355-ship naval fleet; fielding new air defense capabilities; and resuming domestic uranium enrichment for the AUKUS submarine pact.”
• AP reports that Wicker's plan, "lays down a significant marker for Senate Republicans as they enter into a new round of budget fights with Democrats in the heat of a closely fought election year."