WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined sweeping changes to the defense budget Monday that would shift hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon spending away from elaborate weapons toward programs more likely to benefit troops in today’s wars.
Gates’ proposal amounts to a radical change in the way the Pentagon buys weapons. For decades, the U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons programs that strove for revolutionary leaps but often were delivered years late and billions of dollars over budget. In proposing his 2010 budget, which will likely face stiff resistance from Congress, Gates emphasized he wanted to change the “priorities of America’s defense establishment.”
The effort to pare back weapons programs that Gates derided as “truly in the exquisite category” reflects a growing recognition in the Pentagon that the days of soaring defense budgets are over. And it highlights Gates’ long-stated desire to increase spending on surveillance systems and other relatively low-tech weapons that are best suited for guerrilla or irregular war, which has traditionally been an industry backwater.
“I’m just trying to get the irregular guys to have a seat at the table and to institutionalize some of the needs they have,” he said.
To bolster the Afghan war effort, he would spent $2 billion more on intelligence and surveillance programs to track shadowy insurgents, $500 million to field more helicopters and an additional 2,800 special-operations personnel focused on counterterrorism. The $534 billion plan represents a $20 billion increase over 2009.
Destroyer, F-22 jet targeted
Among the weapons taking the biggest hits are the Navy’s DDG-1000 destroyer, a stealthy ship whose cost has ballooned over the past decade. He advised halting production of the Air Force’s F-22 fighter jet at 187 planes — four more than the current number — and killing the new presidential helicopter program.
He also set aside $2 billion for surveillance technology, such as Predator unmanned surveillance planes and other sensors that have proved their worth tracking down insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In unveiling his new priorities for the Pentagon, Gates acknowledged that he would likely face opposition from lawmakers eager to protect jobs in their districts.
“My hope is that members of Congress will rise above parochial interests and consider what is in the best interest of the nation as a whole,” he said.
The initial response on Capitol Hill was restrained, reflecting Gates’ credibility among Republicans, the president’s popularity and the fact that the midterm congressional elections are still 18 months away. House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., called the Gates plan “a good-faith effort.” But he also asserted Congress’ authority over how defense money is spent. “The buck stops with Congress.”
“No real impact” on state
The cuts will undoubtedly be painful for communities such as Marietta, Ga., where about 2,000 Lockheed Martin workers assemble the F-22.
But the cuts should have “no real impact” on Lockheed Martin’s Colorado operations, said spokesman Steve Tatum.
Gates said he was concerned about the impact his changes would have on companies and workers, but he also noted that many of the job cuts would be counterbalanced by increases in other areas.
For example, he noted that even as the number of employees working on the F-22 declined, tens of thousands more workers would be hired to build the F-35, a more affordable and slightly less advanced stealth fighter jet.
