Pentagon Spending Targeted

The US is the latest country to contemplate substantial cuts to military spending.

The deficit commission's interim proposal to cut $100 billion in military spending, if adopted, would take a toll on weapons programs, health-care benefits and overseas bases.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has already launched a drive to eliminate $100 billion in what he calls "unnecessary costs" in the next five years. Those savings were designed to be plowed back into weapons procurement and other accounts. The panel is floating a proposal to apply the savings to deficit reduction instead.

"This is a pretty heavy hit to the defense industry," said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute think tank and a defense industry consultant. "Applying the savings Gates has promised to deficit reduction would take money away from the department that Gates was planning to use for modernization—meaning weapons purchases, for the most part."

As part of the $100 billion reduction, the panel suggested possible cuts to specific weapons programs, including the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle and one version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Those cancellations could contribute to an across-the-board, 15% procurement cut by 2015.

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The proposals also have the potential to dramatically reshape the U.S. military footprint around the globe. The U.S. currently has around 150,000 military personnel stationed at bases in Europe and Asia; the panel's draft recommends cutting that number by a third.

By: Shelldrake