U.S. Military Plans to Keep Stealth and Robotic Edge Despite $400 Billion in CutsJune 24, 2011
 Despite a $400 billion cut in defense spending over the next decade, the Pentagon is focused on maintaining its lead in robotic and stealth technology, according to an article published by Bloomberg News. “Robotics and unmanned technology is a key to the future” for the U.S. military, William Lynn, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, said at a briefing in Paris, ahead of one of the world’s top Air shows. He added that the Pentagon is also pushing to maintain its lead in cyber-security and the ability to strike long-range targets with missiles, jet fighters and electronic attacks. President Barack Obama has called for massive reductions in defense spending over the next 12 years to help reduce the U.S. deficit. Bloomberg noted that both outgoing and incoming Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, respectively, have said that no defense program will be spared scrutiny. “No country with a weak economy is going to be strong militarily,” Lynn said at the briefing. “So, it’s a strategic imperative that we tackle the budget deficit.” He noted that the Pentagon is in a similar position to the post-Vietnam War era when a troubled U.S. economy led to a downturn in military spending. At that time, the Pentagon continued to invest in stealth technology—materials and technologies that allow fighter jets to evade radar detection. Today, the Air Force’s F-22 and F-35 jet fighters are the results of that effort. “If not for our careful stewardship in the lean years of the 1970s, it would have been left on the drawing board,” Lynn said. Other areas the Pentagon plans to focus on include unmanned robotics technologies, especially since it’s not yet clear what advantages those technologies might bring in the future, said Lynn. “Given our reliance on information technology for our military, we need to be able to defend” the networks from attacks, Lynn said. “There’s going to be a cyber dimension to any future conflict.” (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo) |
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