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US Defense Secretary Robert Gates |
The US defense secretary calls for spending reductions in military healthcare and the command structure in the face of the US government's widening budget deficit.
Robert Gates warned on Saturday that the US military should not expect further big hikes in defense budgets. He blasted the Pentagon's "top-heavy" bureaucracy, and called for scaling back on some major weapons programs and massive overhead costs at a time when the country is under dire economic and fiscal duress.
Gates said the overhead costs alone account for about 40 percent of the Defense Department's budget.
"More is needed — much more," Gates said in a speech at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.
He said the shock of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq may lead Washington to be more cautious about launching another costly war. He did not give details of what he meant by "another war."
Gates noted that since 9/11, the Pentagon's base budget has nearly doubled — not counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He targeted health and defense expenditures in his efforts to tame the Pentagon's runaway spending. He said that he wants to cut between USD 10 billion and USD 15 billion from the Pentagon's nearly 550-billion-dollar baseline budget.
The savings are aimed at allowing the US to maintain force levels and to spend on modernization programs, Gates said.
The call for cuts in budget comes at a time when the department is preparing the defense budget for fiscal year 2012.
Robert Gates warned on Saturday that the US military should not expect further big hikes in defense budgets. He blasted the Pentagon's "top-heavy" bureaucracy, and called for scaling back on some major weapons programs and massive overhead costs at a time when the country is under dire economic and fiscal duress.
Gates said the overhead costs alone account for about 40 percent of the Defense Department's budget.
"More is needed — much more," Gates said in a speech at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.
He said the shock of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq may lead Washington to be more cautious about launching another costly war. He did not give details of what he meant by "another war."
Gates noted that since 9/11, the Pentagon's base budget has nearly doubled — not counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He targeted health and defense expenditures in his efforts to tame the Pentagon's runaway spending. He said that he wants to cut between USD 10 billion and USD 15 billion from the Pentagon's nearly 550-billion-dollar baseline budget.
The savings are aimed at allowing the US to maintain force levels and to spend on modernization programs, Gates said.
The call for cuts in budget comes at a time when the department is preparing the defense budget for fiscal year 2012.
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