Gates/White House Target Marines for Wartime Spending Cuts

Gates Set to Outline Pentagon Spending Cuts

VoA News: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is set to tell lawmakers how he intends to cut $100 billion from the Pentagon's budget during the next five years.

Gates is scheduled to meet with Congressional leaders Thursday to outline the cuts, which include eliminating a $14 billion amphibious vehicle being developed for the Marines.

The project has been plagued by years of delay and billions of dollars in cost overruns. The vehicles are meant to launch from about 40 kilometers off shore, carrying 17 Marines at a time to land with less exposure to enemy fire.

Gates has questioned the need for an amphibious vehicle given the nature of current conflicts.

His overall cost-cutting plan is meant to make Pentagon spending more efficient by cutting troubled projects and using the savings to pay for other programs.

Gates is also expected to announce the delay of the F-35 fighter aircraft being developed for the Marines.

Pentagon spending in 2012 is expected to total about $554 billion, which does not include funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.