By le thi huyen 
With a huge military budget of up to 800 billion USD per year, the US is the country with the highest defense spending in the world. This amount of money is invested in many different areas, from advanced weapons, war vehicles to research and development of new military technology. But specifically, how has the US military used this money? Let’s find out the details in the article below.
1. Weapons and military equipment
A large part of the US defense budget is spent on purchasing and maintaining advanced weapons. Expenditures include:
Fighters and drones: The US invests heavily in aircraft such as the F-35 Lightning II, F-22 Raptor and UAVs (unmanned aircraft) such as the MQ-9 Reaper.
Warships and submarines: The US Navy is constantly modernizing with Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Virginia-class nuclear submarines.
Armored vehicles and artillery: The US Army possesses thousands of M1 Abrams tanks, Stryker armored vehicles, and advanced self-propelled artillery systems.
Missiles and defense systems: Systems such as THAAD (High Altitude Area Defense) and Patriot are used to defend against ballistic missile threats.
2. Research and development (R&D) costs
The US spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year on research and development of military technology to maintain its superpower status. Some prominent areas include:
Artificial intelligence (AI) and electronic warfare: AI is applied in strategic data analysis and automatic weapon operations.
Hypersonic weapons: The US is accelerating the development of hypersonic missiles that can travel five times the speed of sound.
Stealth technology: Next-generation fighter aircraft are being designed with more advanced stealth technology.
Combat Robots: Unmanned systems are increasingly replacing humans on the battlefield to reduce casualties.
3. Military salaries and benefits
In addition to spending on weapons, a large portion of the US military budget is used to pay salaries and benefits for about 1.3 million active duty soldiers and more than 800,000 reservists. Expenses include:
Base salaries and allowances
Health care and insurance
Veterans assistance programs
Training and education costs
4. Global military operations
The US maintains hundreds of military bases around the world, from Europe, the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific. Major expenditures include:
The cost of maintaining military bases in Germany, Japan, South Korea and many other countries
Deployment of troops in hot spots such as the Middle East
Military support for allies and partners
5. Secret programs
A portion of the US defense budget is used for secret programs, including research on new weapons, the activities of Special Operations Forces and cyber security campaigns.
With a huge budget of 800 billion USD per year, the US military not only focuses on purchasing weapons but also invests heavily in technology research, maintaining forces and deploying military operations globally. This is a factor that helps the US maintain its position as the world’s number one military power, but also raises many controversies about the necessity of these expenditures.
Video: