The Defense Department said it plans to end certain arms programs in a push to free more than $100 billion to maintain current military forces and upgrade their arsenal over the next five years.
"To get $100 billion, you're going to have to identify lower-priority programs that are not going to be part of future budgets," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn told reporters on Friday.
"Nothing is off the table," he replied to a question about whether the department also might seek to scale back its plan to buy 2,443 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets, the costliest arms purchase in history, at up to $382 billion through 2036.
The Defense Department is seeking "new efficiencies" in the F-35, which is co-funded by eight foreign partners, but, "We're not looking at fundamental changes," Lynn said.
Lockheed is the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier by sales, followed by Boeing Co and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Possible targets for cuts include a projected $13.2 billion General Dynamics Corp program to build an amphibious armored personnel carrier, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates has often questioned.
The Pentagon is asking the Army, Air Force and Navy, which includes the Marine Corps, to identify $2 billion each in non-essential costs that can be cut in fiscal 2012, which starts October 1, 2011.
By: Brant
No comments:
Post a Comment