FY20 Budget Request

In the coming fiscal year, 2020, the Trump administration’s Department of Defense (DOD) continues its record high budget requests.  Since the start of President Trump’s presidency in 2016, the budget for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) has increased by thirty-six percent to the ninety-six billion dollars it is today.  In the budget plans for 2020, there will be an even greater increase of nine percent to 104 billion dollars. Every year, the DOD requests higher budgets than the previous year, and each time, Congress surpasses the requested amounts.  Although the budget for RDT&E will increase, many cuts are needed from all the military service branches and basic research fields to supply the funds needed for the advanced research in RDT&E.

Basic research will lose some of its budget to support the research of quantum science, directed energy, a new Space Development Agency, microelectronics, hypersonics, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).  The research on quantum science will focus on “developing timing and sensing technologies,” while research on directed energy will focus on “lasers and high-power microwaves” as well as missile defense systems. The new Space Development Agency will further space capabilities.  Microelectronics “supports advanced foundry (factory) systems, secures design environments, and radiation-hardened (making electronics and systems resistant to radiation) semiconductor fabrication” and hypersonics research plans to develop high-speed weapons. DARPA seeks to advance machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies.  Finally, the DIU will improve national security technologies. In the Department of Defense’s plans for future research, the United States hopes to maintain its advantage in research and development.