Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has added his voice to the Administration chorus chanting “veto, veto” if lawmakers enact a proposed $7 billion cut to the President’s request for the Fiscal 2006 defense spending bill. Of particular note in a letter Rumsfeld sent to appropriations legislators is his list of “particular concern” programs, which includes the Joint Strike Fighter, Space Radar, and the Transformation Satellite.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
