Pentagon Seeks Defense Budget "Overhaul"

(CBS/AP)  Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended halting production of the F-22 fighter jet and scrapping a new helicopter for the president as he outlined deep cuts to many of the military's biggest weapons programs.

Gates said his $534 billion budget proposal represents a "fundamental overhaul" in defense acquisition and reflects a shift in priorities from fighting conventional wars to the newer threats U.S. forces face from insurgents in places such as Afghanistan.

Overall, it's not a cut in spending, but it features big changes in how that money is spent, reports CBS News correspondent Dan Raviv.

The department must ensure it has the right programs and money to "fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years to come, while at the same time providing a hedge against other risks," Gates said as he revealed details of his budget for the next fiscal year.

The promised emphasis on budget paring is a reversal from the Bush years, which included a doubling of the Pentagon's spending since 2001. Spending on tanks, fighter planes, ships, missiles and other weapons accounted for about a third of all defense spending last year. But Gates noted more money will be needed in areas such as personnel as the Army and Marines expand the size of their forces.

Gates will likely face stiff resistance in Congress, where lawmakers are wary of losing defense contractor jobs with an economy in crisis. Some defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp. have warned of huge layoffs if programs are cut.

Production of the F-22 fighter jet, which cost $140 million apiece, would be halted at 187. Plans to build a new helicopter for the president and a helicopter to rescue downed pilots would be canceled. A new communications satellite would be scrapped and the program for a new Air Force transport plane would be ended.

Some of the Pentagon's most expensive programs would also be scaled back. The Army's $160 billion Future Combat Systems modernization program would lose its armored vehicles. Plans to build a shield to defend against missile attacks by rogue states would also be scaled back.

Yet some programs would grow. Gates proposed speeding up production of the F-35 fighter jet, which could end up costing $1 trillion to manufacture and maintain 2,443 planes. The military would buy more speedy ships that can operate close in to land. And more money would be spent outfitting special forces troops that can hunt down insurgents.

"It is important to remember that every defense dollar spent to over-ensure against a remote or diminishing risk - or in effect to run up the score in a capability where the United States is already dominant - is a dollar not available to take care of our people, reset the force, win the wars we are in and improve capabilities in areas where we are underinvested and potentially vulnerable," Gates said.

The Government Accountability Office reported last week that 96 of the Pentagon's biggest weapons contracts were over budget by a "staggering" figure of $296 billion.

A bill in Congress would require the Pentagon to do a better job of making sure proposed weapons are affordable and perform the way they should before the military spends big sums on them. The Defense Department has already adjusted its acquisitions policy to achieve some of those goals.

[nolies74621]

Obama bows to Saudi king
Greeting called 'most unbecoming for president of the United States'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: April 02, 2009
4:12 pm Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily


President Obama greeted the king of Saudi Arabia with a full bow from the waist yesterday, a move one commentator described as a violation of protocol and not worthy of the office he holds.

"I am quite certain that this is not the protocol, and is most unbecoming a president of the United States," writes Clarice Feldman in an American Thinker commentary.

The situation developed as leaders of the world attending the G20 summit in London assembled for a photograph to mark the event.

In this first image, after the king extended his hand while Obama approached, Obama bends from the waist until his head is nearly at the monarch's waist:



OK! I saw the video and was shocked. How could the so called POTUS bow to a Monarch. I guess he wants oil. Any defense for the exhaulted messiahs' actions on this total lack of guts? He may as well have said to the world that America will BOW TO ANYONE and pretty much supplicated the US to the entire world. WEAK,WEAK,WEAK. So much for the intelligence and dignity factor. Now I have seen it all. Why is'nt CBS covering this?

[babooph]

I am old enough to recall IKE"overhauling" the military budget & using the $ to build the interstate highway system.

[bigmo47]

Joe-Ny, no I am not uninformed. The missle shield tests have either not been successful or the success has been with missles that do not use countermeasures to avoid interception. Hint: nearly all modern weapons gan be manevered in-flight to and release decoys to avoid interception. So you may want to update your conservative talking points. Just because we have the technology does't mean it will work when needed. Here's an article you can use to catch up.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4B46NB20081206

[bigmo47]

Do any of you read the articles? Sec Gates said that they were investing in 2443 new aircraft. How is that going to weaken our defense. The problem with the missle shield program is that it has not been proven to work correctly when tested. It's pretty hard to hit a bullet with a bullet. President Obama said while he was campaigning that he would invest more in the program if it works. Lockheed Martin, and the other big defense contractors have built in cost overruns. Everybody knows this. If you pay someone to redo all of your windows and they take them all out and then say, well we had a cos overrun and we can't finish unless you give us more money, that would be illegal. when you do it to the American peope as a whole, it's business as usual. Locheed made 3.03 Billion dollars in profit last year. Profit after all of their expenses 3.03 billion. but if you scale down that program people are going to be out of work. Please. That's fine those workers can just start working on the 2443 new F35 fighters.

[budmag06]

Gates wants??? How about Obama and the liberals want?? Too bad this country will be ill-prepared for the growing threat from Iran, North Korea, China and Venezuela. We should demand protection from the new Jimmy Carter.

[geminispyder-2009]

One reason I voted for Obama was his intention to downsize the military and greatly decrease the defense spending.......we don't need the billions in old ship technology and more expensive planes...
Posted by czechtraveler at 5:43 AM : Apr 7, 2009

Well it's pretty obvious where you stand if given the choice whether or not to spend more money on tougher body armor for our troops.

[gary-hamm]

I knew this person was going to BAD for our country.

[rssllbll55]

This is move that needed to be started. And I wish to applaud all who made this necessary decision. The cost of maintaining the equipment that the military already has in its arsenal leaves much to be desired.
Now that Gates has stepped forward and said that his budget will not contribute to the increase to the presidents budget unnecssarily says to me that he see the seriousness of the matter when it comes to the budget and the need to put a end to the defense spending especially when most of the technology is presumptive at best.
The things that he is willing to continue in productionn makes since.
I can't see spending over $100 million dollars for one plane reasonable.
We are trying to wind down the war not gear up for war. Besides, we have enough bullets and bombs to destroy every living thing on the planet as it is.

[hungry1968-15]

According to the Washington Post, MANY congressmen are VERY pisssed off because their pet projects are getting killed.

I say good - let them get mad. Maybe they'll finally do something FOR America, instead of doing something TO America.

[czechtraveler]

One reason I voted for Obama was his intention to downsize the military and greatly decrease the defense spending.......we don't need the billions in old ship technology and more expensive planes...