ICAS Continues To Provide Solid Analysis Of The TRUE Damage Done By Sequestration

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (via Wikipedia) using 2011 figures, the defense budget of the United States ($689.6 billion/year) is larger than the defense budgets of the next 16 countries combined (China, Russia, France, Great Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Israel).

Of those 16 countries, only two (Germany and Israel) do not have military formation aerobatic teams that will perform in 2013. China has three teams and Russia has two.

Of the countries with the 20 largest defense budgets in the world, only four (Germany, Israel, Columbia and the Netherlands) do not have military formation aerobatic teams. Of those 20 countries that do have military demonstration teams, only the United States has opted to ground their teams due to budgetary concerns this year.

The two U.S. military formation teams are two of the three oldest teams in the world. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels have been performing since 1946 and are the oldest military team in the world. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds were scheduled to celebrate their 60th anniversary this year and are the third oldest team in the world. Together, the budgets for the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds account for five thousandths of one percent of the total U.S. Defense Budget.

FMI: www.airshows.aero