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Gates’ Defense cuts include F-22, CSAR-X

Defense Secretary Robert Gates laid out a sweeping proposal Monday that calls for stopping or delaying several high-dollar Air Force programs so the money can be used to transform the U.S. military into a force more able to deal with irregular warfare threats.

Included in the $534 billion defense budget that will be delivered to Congress in May were capping the F-22 program at 187 fighters, canceling the Air Force’s combat search-and-rescue helicopter, suspending plans to develop a new supersonic long-range bomber and doubling the buy of F-35 fighters to 30 in fiscal year 2010.

Gates’ budget also calls for reopening bids for the KC-X tanker program over the summer and stopping production of the C-17 at 205 aircraft. Also on the chopping block is the Air Force’s $11 billion Transformational Satellite Communications System contract.

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Under the proposal, the Air Force also would retire 250 aging tactical fighters and would spend more on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the form of additional Predator and Reaper unmanned aircraft and MC-12 manned ISR platforms.

Gates described the 2010 budget as “an opportunity to truly reform the way we do business.”

The announcement of major cuts and program expansions ahead of a defense budget submission to Congress is unprecedented, said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst with the Heritage Foundation.

“It’s gutsy, and he’ll probably get what he wants,” Eaglen said. “This is the beginning of modernization cuts; it’s not the end.”

Sen. Jim Webb, Virginia Democrat and former Navy Secretary, issued a statement that called Gates’ announcement “highly unorthodox.”

“Such a major shift toward a ‘different strategic direction’ early in a new administration normally flows from such strategy-driven assessments as the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) or the formulation of a new U.S. national security strategy,” Webb said in the statement.

Shortly after the briefing, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense issued a statement calling Gates’ proposal “the first step in balancing the Department’s wants with our nation’s needs.”

A likely early point of contention will be over the KC-X tanker program. Earlier this year, Murtha had proposed splitting the tanker buy between Northrop Grumman-Airbus and Boeing, the original bidders. In his presentation Monday, Gates said he had spoken with Murtha but they disagreed with the split plan.

Lockheed-Martin is the primary contractor for the F-22 and has mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to keep production lines for the F-22 open. The company also makes the F-35 and TSAT.

Both Boeing and Lockheed-Martin issued statements that they would weigh the Gates’ proposal for impact on their programs.

Shutting down the F-22 “will impact America for years to come,” according to Michael Wynne, former Air Force Secretary and champion of the F-22.

“We have shut down a fifth-generation fighter before we have another fifth-generation fighter available to our president,” Wynne said.

“We are really betting on [the F35] to mature on an aggressive timeline — one we haven't seen before and so it’s a risky course,” he said. “I would have to say that the decisions are very difficult, but here is a case I think we are maybe accepting a little more risk than we need to.”

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 have warned of huge layoffs if programs are cut.

Other services also didn’t escape the budget ax. 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. Besides the F-35 decision, Gates wants the Navy to buy more speedy ships that can operate close 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.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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