The Pentagon named five threats to the United States

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said that the draft budget of the Pentagon for the 2016-2017 fiscal year was prepared taking into account five main threats - these are Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and the Islamic State (the organization is recognized as a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation and banned).

According to Carter, the United States intends to increase spending on new weapons in response to the actions of Russia and China. The head of the Pentagon mentioned Russian "aggression" in Ukraine and China's claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon is asking for $582.7 billion for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The US military budget for fiscal year 2014-2015 is $585 billion.

One of the major expenditure items in the new budget is scientific and technical developments. For these purposes, the Pentagon asks to allocate 71.4 billion dollars. 8.1 billion is planned to be spent on strengthening the submarine fleet (in five years, spending on this item will exceed 40 billion).

In the new budget, spending on the fight against the Islamic State has been increased by 50 percent to $7.5 billion.

$3.4 billion is planned to be spent on strengthening the military presence in Europe - we are talking about both strengthening American troops and supporting allies.

“We must be able (and everyone must see this ability) to inflict unacceptable damage on the aggressor so that he refrains from provocative actions or greatly regrets them,” Carter said (English).

Reuters

• The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) published an updated strategy at the end of January, in which the top priority is "deterring Russian aggression."
• In December 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a new Russian National Security Strategy, in which the United States was named the main adversary. This document states that the US and its allies are pursuing a policy of containment of Russia.