Posted on: Monday, January 17, 2005

Pentagon seeking reduced weapons purchases

Knight Ridder News Service

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has proposed the most significant reductions in weapons purchases since the Sept. 11 attacks. The cuts are an attempt to save money, with the Iraq war costing at least $5 billion per month and the federal budget deficit growing.

The proposed cuts would save as much as $55 billion over six years beginning in 2006. The plan calls for significant cuts or cancellation of such big-ticket items as the F-22 fighter jet, the C-130J cargo plane, a Navy aircraft carrier and the ballistic missile-defense program.

Congressional districts from Florida to California face job losses if Congress approves the cuts, and lawmakers from both parties are scrambling to try to prevent that from happening.

"The biggest factor driving these cuts is the budget deficit," said Steven Kosiak, the director of budget studies for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington policy research group.

Kosiak predicted that, in the long term, the Defense Department would have to scale back its modernization plans and cut even more weapons programs. Part of the reason is that the cost of many weapons programs has grown substantially, and the Pentagon also must deal with the rising costs of military pay, healthcare and operations, he said.

The proposed cuts to the weapons programs wouldn't mean an overall decrease in military spending, which now tops $400 billion a year without counting the costs of the war.

The proposed cuts were outlined in a memo that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz approved Dec. 23. The document outlines budgetary changes in 36 programs, including $364 million in extra spending for foreign-language training for soldiers and an additional $2.2 billion for defense against chemical and biological attacks.

The Army would get $25 billion over the next six years to restructure its forces into smaller and better-equipped units that could be deployed more rapidly around the world.

The Air Force would see its F-22 fighter program slashed by nearly $11 billion, scaling back to 170 aircraft from the 277 fighters that it had planned to buy through 2011. The C-130J aircraft program would be eliminated, at a savings of more than $4.1 billion, but leaving the Air Force without 42 aircraft it planned to buy to haul troops and cargo. The Marines would lose another 20 of the planes configured as aerial tankers.

The Navy would lose one of its oldest carriers, the USS John F. Kennedy, originally slated for retirement for 2018. Even the missile-defense program, which President Bush has declared a national security priority, would be slashed by $5 billion over the next six years.