Esper said to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the service “mortgaged its readiness” to fight against countries like China and Russia. As a result, the Army now needs to update equipment that has been in service for 40 years, Esper said. In fiscal 2019, the U.S. Army requested $182 billion to fund programs and salaries as well as ongoing wars. Of that, $22 billion was slated for buying weapons systems.