10 months ago
The budget, Gates said, "profoundly reforms how this department does business."
It also eliminates expensive weapons and aircraft systems and focuses on reforming the defense procurement system, which he called long overdue.
If approved by the Congress, the budget Gates announced eliminates a $26 billion satellite system, the VH-71 presidential helicopter and ends procurement of the Air Force's F-22 fighter at 187 aircraft.
Originally developed in the 1980s, the F-22 costs $140 million apiece. Overall, the program has cost $65 billion, Pentagon budget figures show.
Gates said he was committed to developing more advanced aircraft and called for increasing spending on the F-35 joint strike fighter from $6.8 billion to $11.2 billion. He said he wants to build 513 F-35s over the next five years and 2,443 over the course of the program.
Programs such as the F-22 have been targeted by budget cutters in the past, and both programs have been kept going by the congressional supporters. Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-22, and its allies in Congress have lobbied Gates and President Obama extensively for the program's survival.
Gates said he wanted to devote more money to programs that will aid troops in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He wants to add $2 billion to improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs and will "maximize production" of the Reaper and Predator drone aircraft. He wants 50 Reaper and Predator teams available for both wars.
