NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced sweeping changes to the Pentagon budget on Monday, reflecting a higher priority toward cyber security and the type of irregular wars U.S. forces are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At a news conference, Gates said the defense department would buy no more than 187 of the advanced fighter, the F-22 Raptor, and would stop purchasing the C-17 Globemaster transport plane at year’s end. He also said he would terminate a high-bandwidth military satellite communications program and shut down the development of the Air Force’s new search and rescue helicopter. A plan to replace presidential helicopters was also put on hold indefinitely.
Furthermore, the Pentagon wants to reduce the number of contractors as a percentage of total staff to 26% from the current 39%, to where it ballooned after 2001.
“Our goal is to hire as many as 13,000 new civil servants in fiscal 2010 to replace contractors and up to 30,000 new civil servants in place of contractors over the next five years,” Gates said.
The Pentagon seeks to raise its budget for the F-35 joint-strike fighter to $11.2 billion from $6.8 billion to purchase 30 jets in fiscal 2010, up from 14 this past year. Over the next five years, the agency would like to buy 513 F-35s, and ultimately have a fleet of 2,443.
No comments:
Post a Comment