Hagel Calls for Smaller Force to Protect Technology Edge

[Purveyor]

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today argued for troop reductions to preserve spending on advanced technology from defense contractors amid more than $500 billion in automatic budget cuts scheduled through 2023.

“In some cases we will make a shift, for example, by prioritizing a smaller, modern, and capable military over a larger force with older equipment,” Hagel said in remarks prepared for an address before the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a policy research group in Washington.

The statement reflects a determination in the Pentagon to protect sophisticated and costly weapons, such as Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35 fighter, that are seen as giving the U.S. military a competitive advantage.

Hagel straddled the options in July, when he presented results of a “Strategic Choices and Management Review.” At that time, he said the Pentagon would have to make the choice between a “much smaller” force and a decade-long “modernization holiday” unless Congress and the president reached an agreement to call off the automatic cuts known as sequestration.

Today, he said the reduction in forces is also being driven by the drawdown of troops in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the need to focus on cyberdefense, space, special operations and surveillance technologies.

MORE...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-05/hagel-calls-for-smaller-force-to-protect-technology-edge.html

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. This is how squandering billions on the F-35 and other expensive equipment is justified.

"The F-35 is between 57% and 89% over-budget, 4 years late and north of 120 million per copy."

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-13795.html

[bemildred]

2. If you want to protect our technology edge, get private enterprise out of it. nt