WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Monday a proposed 2010 budget for the Pentagon that makes changes to a broad swath of big-ticket weapon programs. If adopted by the White House and Congress his recommendations would:
-- Scrap a new presidential helicopter designed and built by Lockheed Martin Corp and its European partner AgustaWestland, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica SpA. Gates said the program had nearly doubled in cost to over $13 billion and was six years behind schedule.
-- Restructure the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization program run by Boeing Co and Science Applications International Corp, a program valued at $160 billion, scrapping a ground vehicle program valued at $87 billion.
-- Move work on three DDG-1000 destroyers to the General Dynamics Corp shipyard, while building more earlier-version DDG-51 destroyers at the Northrop Grumman Corp shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
-- Scrap plans for now for a new cruiser warship, which was initially planned to be based on the DDG-1000 design.
-- Cancel plans to build a new long-range bomber by 2018, a $10-billion-plus program for which Lockheed and Boeing had teamed up to compete against Northrop.
-- Cut $10 billion in annual funding for missile defense programs by $1.4 billion. The Pentagon would cancel work on a second airborne laser being developed by Boeing and not fund additional interceptor purchases. But it would add funding for more regional missile defense projects run by Lockheed and Raytheon Co.
-- Buy four more F-22 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin for a total of 187, but far less than the 60 additional fighters requested by the Air Force, while accelerating funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, also built by Lockheed, to $11.2 billion in fiscal 2010.
-- Buy 31 more F/A-18 fighter jets built by Boeing in fiscal 2010 to cover an expected Navy aviation gap until the Navy begins receiving larger numbers of F-35 fighters.
-- Terminate a new multibillion-dollar Transformational Satellite program aimed at improving military communications, a program for which Lockheed and Boeing have already been doing research work. Instead the Pentagon would buy two more Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites built by Lockheed.
-- Cancel a $15 billion competition for new Air Force search and rescue helicopters for which Lockheed, Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp were competing. The Pentagon would review whether the requirement for the helicopter still existed, or if there should be a joint program for all the military services.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Keywords: PENTAGON/BUDGET WEAPONS
(andrea.shalal-esa@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 202 354 5807; Reuters Messaging: andrea.shalal-esa.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
-- Scrap a new presidential helicopter designed and built by Lockheed Martin Corp and its European partner AgustaWestland, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica SpA. Gates said the program had nearly doubled in cost to over $13 billion and was six years behind schedule.
-- Restructure the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization program run by Boeing Co and Science Applications International Corp, a program valued at $160 billion, scrapping a ground vehicle program valued at $87 billion.
-- Move work on three DDG-1000 destroyers to the General Dynamics Corp shipyard, while building more earlier-version DDG-51 destroyers at the Northrop Grumman Corp shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
-- Scrap plans for now for a new cruiser warship, which was initially planned to be based on the DDG-1000 design.
-- Cancel plans to build a new long-range bomber by 2018, a $10-billion-plus program for which Lockheed and Boeing had teamed up to compete against Northrop.
-- Cut $10 billion in annual funding for missile defense programs by $1.4 billion. The Pentagon would cancel work on a second airborne laser being developed by Boeing and not fund additional interceptor purchases. But it would add funding for more regional missile defense projects run by Lockheed and Raytheon Co.
-- Buy four more F-22 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin for a total of 187, but far less than the 60 additional fighters requested by the Air Force, while accelerating funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, also built by Lockheed, to $11.2 billion in fiscal 2010.
-- Buy 31 more F/A-18 fighter jets built by Boeing in fiscal 2010 to cover an expected Navy aviation gap until the Navy begins receiving larger numbers of F-35 fighters.
-- Terminate a new multibillion-dollar Transformational Satellite program aimed at improving military communications, a program for which Lockheed and Boeing have already been doing research work. Instead the Pentagon would buy two more Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites built by Lockheed.
-- Cancel a $15 billion competition for new Air Force search and rescue helicopters for which Lockheed, Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp were competing. The Pentagon would review whether the requirement for the helicopter still existed, or if there should be a joint program for all the military services.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Keywords: PENTAGON/BUDGET WEAPONS
(andrea.shalal-esa@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 202 354 5807; Reuters Messaging: andrea.shalal-esa.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.