Pentagon proposes to quadruple military spending in Europe in FY 2017

The Pentagon proposed to quadruple U.S. military spending in Europe in fiscal year 2017 to 3.4 billion U.S. dollars from last year's request of 789 million dollars, U.S. defense chief said on Thursday.

The Pentagon planned to increase the deployment of heavy weapons, armored vehicles and troops on rotating assignment to NATO countries in the region, said Ash Carter here at a congressional hearing.

"It supports more warfighting gear, including forward-stationing equipment for an additional armored brigade combat team by the end of 2017," said Carter, adding that the budget reflected increased cooperation between the U.S. military and its allies in the region.

According to Carter, the proposed increase in military spending in Europe would also allow the Pentagon to keep an additional F-15C tactical fighter squadron based in Europe, and would improve airfield infrastructure to enhance operations for U.S. Air Force fighters and U.S. Navy maritime patrol aircrafts.

The Pentagon's spending increase in Europe was part of a defense budget for the fiscal year 2017 submitted by the White House to Congress. The defense budget included a 524-billion-dollar base budget and a separate wartime spending account of about 59 billion dollars. Endit