Obama and the Future Defense Budget

Like most incoming new administrations the Obama one has decided to delay the defense budget submission to Congress. The defense industry is waiting with somewhat baited breath to see what the new budget will contain. While Democratic administrations are historically considered poor supporters of the budget Mr. Obama has inherited active combat operations in Afghanistan and a large troop presence in Iraq. The Financial Times of England writes that there may be significant cuts to certain weapon systems. If Obama and his Defense Department decide to end the use of supplemental funding for combat operations and transfer that cost to the regular budget then there may have to be cuts to investment to cover those operational cost. This may be where rumors of a significant cut to the budget is coming from. Hopefully top line budgeting information will be available well before the April submission.