Gates warns of likely cuts to costly weapons programs

Defense Secretary Gates today acknowledged that steady increases in defense spending over the last seven years will soon end and warned that the Pentagon will have to make tough choices on many of its high-priced weapons systems.

"One thing we have known for many months is that the spigot of defense spending opened by 9/11 is closing," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "With two major [military] campaigns ongoing, the economic crisis and resulting budget pressures will force hard choices on this department."

The Obama administration's amended fiscal 2010 budget request expected on Capitol Hill in April will reflect the budgetary pressures on the department, said Gates, who added that he opposes "across-the-board adjustments, which inefficiently extend all programs."

Gates did not single out specific programs that would be targeted for cuts, but listed efforts in each of the services that have experienced contract or program performance problems. Those include the Army's Future Combat Systems and Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, and the Air Force tanker replacement program.

During his first of two hearings on Capitol Hill today, Gates signaled that he has little patience for cost increases and schedule delays that have plagued the military's procurement system. He pledged to inject a dose of reality into the Defense Department's budget and encourage military leaders to seek more cost-effective solutions for their operational requirements.

"But for all the difficulties we face, I believe this moment also presents an opportunity -- one of those rare chances to match virtue to necessity," Gates said. "To critically and ruthlessly separate appetites from real requirements -- those things that are desirable in a perfect world from those things that are truly needed in light of the threats America faces and the missions we are likely to undertake in the years ahead."

The only Bush administration Cabinet member to serve under President Obama told the panel he would pursue greater quantities of systems that represent the "75 percent solution" rather than smaller quantities of "99 percent, exquisite systems." He also pledged to freeze requirements on programs when contracts are awarded, rather than making significant and expensive changes to weapons programs years into development. Gates added that he would write contracts that "incentivize proper behavior" from the defense industry and said he is augmenting the services' acquisition workforces.

But he noted that significant reform of the military's acquisition processes will not occur overnight. "I do not believe there is a silver bullet, and I do not think the system can be reformed in a short period of time," he said. "That said, I do believe we can make headway."

Later, during his appearance before House Armed Services Committee, Gates turned to the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, alerting lawmakers that he expects to send a supplemental spending request to Capitol Hill in the next two to three weeks that will cover the cost of military operations for the remainder of fiscal 2009.