12:45 a.m. (c)
Hi Lalith
The way we portion out our budget, is we spread it over 5 years. This is because it helps us with planning purchase ahead. We also need to, as Tony Blinken claimed regarding F16s for Ukraine, we also need to train the fighter aircraft pilots. So it takes a while.
If you divvy up the $14b, over 5 years, it's $14b / 5 = $2.8 to 3b, which isn't so far removed from the $1 or $2b people in "MOD" spend now
It's just our economy is indeed set to grow sizeably
And so we are happy to swap ponies for stallions