Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaking on Wednesday at the Pentagon about looming across-the-board spending cuts.
THOM SHANKER | New York Times | July 31, 2013
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned on Wednesday that if across-the-board budget cuts were not lifted, the United States would have to reduce its global security objectives by trading away the size of its armed forces or its edge in technology as the Pentagon seeks to remain solvent.
In a dire assessment of the financial challenges facing the military, Mr. Hagel said the political stalemate between the White House and Congress over a comprehensive deal for taxes and spending has required the Defense Department to plan for a range of cuts, since a deal to lift the across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester remains elusive.
Under the largest cuts the Pentagon is considering, Mr. Hagel described a trade-off: The military, he said, could maintain its size — as measured in the number of Army brigades, Navy warships, Air Force fighter squadrons and Marine expeditionary units — but not buy the most advanced new weapons. Or, he said, the Pentagon could shrink the force and put money into the next generation of weaponry.
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