Thursday, January 07, 2010

Decade of Zero; Defense Spending Up 72% Since 2000: Are We Any Safer?

Inquiring minds are noting Gates Restores Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop Programs in 2011 Plan. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... KjFw&pos=9

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed the Air Force to restore to its proposed budget three major programs the service offered to cancel, including a Boeing Co. program to build and install upgraded software in the cockpits of C-130 transports, according to a budget document.

Gates directed restoration of $285 million in 2011 and $1.843 billion overall through 2015 on the C-130 program. He also told the Air Force to restore $2.4 billion for an Internet- like radio that Lockheed Martin Corp. is building for aircraft and vessels.

In addition, he told the service to add $280 million to continue installing upgraded Pratt & Whitney engines on the Northrop Grumman Corp. Jstars surveillance plane.

Defense spending since fiscal 2000, adjusted for inflation, has grown about 43 percent. When war costs are included, the number increases to 72 percent. Gates has called for modest growth going forward, with emphasis on improving the security of nuclear weapons, building capabilities to conduct irregular warfare, cyber defense and long-range strikes.

Gates’s directive means “either the service’s budget priorities are out of sync with those of the defense secretary or that that the proposed cancellations were advanced knowing there was little likelihood they’d be accepted,â€