U.S. to detail Pentagon savings, cuts: sources

[Pirate Smile]

Source: Reuters

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to announce as early as Thursday about $100 billion in savings for the Pentagon and cuts to some weapons programs, sources said on Monday.

The announcement will detail a plan that military services have been hammering out for months. The Pentagon is under increasing pressure to cut its budget given huge federal deficits and a drawdown of troops in Iraq.

One weapons program expected to end is the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, a 40-ton amphibious landing craft being developed for the Marine Corps by General Dynamics Corp, said two sources, who were not authorized to speak on the record.

Gates is also likely to cancel a medium air-to-air missile being developed by Raytheon Co, said defense analyst Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70306W20110104

[MannyGoldstein]

1. That's $100B over 5 years

2%-3%. Just a token to make slashing Social Security go down easier.

[Overseas]

2. Aw come on! Surely he means $100 billion per year for the next five years

and then some more.

[rachael7]

3. Yup, over 5 years...

"Defense News, a trade publication reported in December that the White House Office of Management and Budget had ordered the Pentagon to cut its budget by $90 billion over the next five years, beginning with a $12 billion cut in fiscal 2012."

A token, less than they took from federal workers even.