国际英语新闻：Pentagon chief outlines new vision of U.S. defense spending

WASHINGTON, Apr. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Monday outlined a new vision of U.S. defense spending as he announced the fiscal year 2010 defense budget plan that cuts funding for many major weapon programs.

    "If approved, these recommendations will profoundly reform how this department does business," Gates told a press conference at Pentagon.

    He said his proposal represents a "budget crafted to reshape the priorities of America's defense established."

    The plan is part of the Obama administration's ongoing efforts to reshape the U.S. military into a force better suited to unconventional wars rather than being prepared for fighting large-scale conventional wars.

    Gates said one of the principal objectives of the plan is that "we must rebalance this department's programs in order to institutionalize and enhance our capabilities to fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years ahead, while at the same time providing a hedge against other risks and contingencies."

    "In order to do this, we must reform how and what we buy, meaning a fundamental overhaul of our approach to procurement, acquisition, and contracting."

    CUTTING TRADITIONAL PROGRAMS

    A number of expensive traditional programs will be terminated under the proposal, including capping purchases of F-22 fighter jets at 187 and canceling the VH-71 presidential helicopter program and a new Air Force communication satellite program.

    Gates said the Defense Department would complete its contract for 183 F-22 fighters and add four more, bringing the total to 187,before stopping the purchases.

    He recommends terminating the presidential helicopter program because "it runs the risk of not delivering the required capability."

    Gates also recommends canceling the Air Force's Transformation Satellite Communication System program, which is intended to be a constellation of five satellites and ground stations to provide data and message services to ground forces throughout the world using laser beams.

    He also calls for stopping the growth of the number of Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) at 45.

    The defense secretary also proposed delays in other programs, including the CG-X next generation cruiser program as well as the amphibious ship and sea-basing programs.

    He also calls for restructuring the costly missile defense program and the Army's future combat system program.

    Gates also envisions to reduce the number of aircraft carriers from 11 to 10 after 2040.

    "ADDING CAPABILITIES"

    Besides the cuts, Gates also requested more money for other programs that he believe will increase the U.S. military's counterinsurgency capabilities.

    "He will also be talking a lot about where we are increasing funding for various capabilities that are important to the department and to our national security," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters before the press conference.

    "Everybody seems to be focusing on that he (Gates) is making cuts. He's going to be adding a lot of things to capabilities that we need too," he said.

    To shift focus to counter-insurgency operations, Gates proposed more funding for special forces and intelligence gathering.

    He recommends increasing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance funding by 2 billion dollars, adding 500 million dollars to field and sustain more helicopters, boosting global partnership capacity efforts and increasing special operation personnel by more than 2,800 and buying more aircraft for the special forces.

    Gates also proposes to increase the purchase of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), seen as crucial to counterinsurgency operations in coastal regions and to improve inter-theater lift capacity.

    The Pentagon chief also recommends increasing funding for some selected conventional weapon programs.

    For example, he plans to buy more F-35 fighters in fiscal year 2010, raising the F-35 budget from 6.8 billion U.S. dollars to 11.2 billion dollars.

    SHIFT OF FOCUS

    Gates' proposal reflects the Obama administration's bid to shift defense spending focus from preparations for large-scale conventional war to counterinsurgency operations which the new U.S. government thinks would likely to be top military challenges in coming decades.

    Some analysts said it's the defense chief's "boldest move" to reshape the priorities and capabilities of the U.S. military.

    For the record, Gates has argued that the U.S. military is still too oriented toward fighting a conventional war and hasn't devoted enough resources toward preparing for irregular, low-intensity conflicts that he sees continuing into the near future.

    "These decisions represent a fundamental shift in direction for the department," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.

    Another reason for the shift is the Obama administration's intention to "rein in" rapid growth of defense spending over the Bush years.

    Driven by rising war costs, U.S. defense spending had doubled during the tenure of former president George W. Bush and it accounts for 40 percent of the world's total military spending.

    Obama said in February that he won't let the military spending to grow "off hooks."

    "We are going to continue to find savings in a way that allows us to put the resources where they're needed, but to make sure that we're not simply fattening defense contractors," he said when addressing the defense budget issues on March 24.

    In February, Obama proposed to the Congress an overall price tag of 533.7 billion dollars for fiscal year 2010, a 4-percent increase from that of fiscal year 2009.

    Obama is due to send a detailed plan of the defense budget proposal to the Congress next month and Gates' announcement before the plan's submission is seen as a move to gain more political support for the president's vision on defense spending.

    However, whether the new administration's defense budget proposal will be fully adopted by the Congress is unclear, since the proposed cuts in major weapon programs will meet strong resistance from powerful defense corporations and their lobbyists.