DoD Plans for Spending Increase

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's chief weapons buyer said Thursday the Bush administration's long-term military budget plan calls for increased defense spending in future years.

The Defense Department has been working to finalize an updated six-year projected spending plan and fiscal 2010 budget proposal before President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20. The revised blueprint is expected to provide a major increase to the Pentagon's budget. Wall Street analysts have been predicting a drop in defense spending.

On Thursday, Pentagon acquisition chief John Young acknowledged recent reports that the "top line" of the Defense Department's budget plan for fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2015 would exceed the Bush administration's previous spending projections between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2013.

Young did not provide exact figures of the budget increase, calling the plan "a budget template" that would most likely be altered and adjusted by the next administration.

Even with more money in the pot, the next administration will face "some tough choices," but it also "will allow some opportunities" to fix and refurbish equipment that has been heavily used, Young told reporters at a breakfast roundtable.

After eight years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military trucks, aircraft and other equipment have been beaten up and far exceeded their intended usage rates, he said.

A "significant portion" of the increase in the Pentagon's planned core budget is intended to pay for costs largely associated with the U.S.-led global war on terrorism, Young said.

Even though Wall Street has been anticipating a decline in defense spending starting in fiscal 2010, reports have circulated in recent months that the Bush administration intended to add $360 billion into the military's core budget between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2015. Such a move would hike next year's budget inherited by the Obama administration by about $60 billion to $587 billion.

The additional funding is expected to cover costs for an extra 92,000 Soldiers and Marines, according to Wall Street analysts.

The Obama administration will have about 30 days to alter the fiscal 2010 budget, and the six-year defense spending plan, before it goes to Congress in February.

Steve Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments characterized the plan as "dubious," saying the current administration should have made such budget changes much earlier if current plans were unrealistic.

"It's not as though there has been dramatic changes in what the Defense Department wants to buy, or the requirements have changed," said Kosiak.

Young on Thursday declined to speculate what programs would likely get cut in the next president's budget.

In the interim, Young and his team already have begun preparing transition materials for the next administration on programs that will require immediate attention during the first six months of Obama's presidency.

Young previously has said Lockheed Martin Corp.'s presidential helicopter and Joint Striker Fighter programs, as well as future purchases of Lockheed's F-22 fighter jet and Boeing Co.'s C-17 aircraft, would likely top the list.

Also expected to draw significant attention is the award of a disputed $35 billion contract for 179 aerial refueling planes. That deal is coveted by Boeing, and rival Northrop Grumman Corp. with its partner Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.

The decision to award the tanker contract was punted to the next administration earlier this year, after the Pentagon called for a "cooling off" period between the two rivals. Boeing protested the Air Force's award to the Northrop team, which led a review by government auditors who found "significant errors" in how the service conducted its selection.