After years of unfettered growth in military budgets, Defense Department planners, top commanders and weapons manufacturers say they are almost certain that the financial meltdown will have a serious impact on future Pentagon spending.
Across the military, deep apprehension has led to closed-door meetings and detailed calculations in anticipation of potential cuts. Civilian and military budget planners say that they are already analyzing worst-case contingency spending plans that would see their overall budgets frozen or slashed.
The obvious targets for savings would be expensive new arms programs, which have racked up cost overruns of at least $300 billion for the top 75 weapons systems, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Congressional budget experts say likely targets for reductions are the Army's plans for fielding advanced combat systems, the Air Force's Joint Strike Fighter, the Navy's new destroyer and the ground-based missile defense system.
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