The Global Hawk is pictured at the aircraft hangar of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia on September 7, 2012, released to Reuters on September 26. Credit: Reuters/NASA/Handout
Fear Of Losing Tech Edge Factors Into Pentagon Budget Plans -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Concerns that cuts in defense spending could erode the U.S. military's technological edge over rivals such as Russia and China are in part driving the Pentagon's plans to slash troop levels and retire aging weapons.
U.S. defense officials have watched in recent years as Moscow and Beijing have tested a string of sophisticated weapons, from radar-evading aircraft and anti-ship missiles that fly many times the speed of sound, to integrated air defenses.
"The development and proliferation of more advanced military technologies by other nations means that we are entering an era where American dominance on the seas, in the skies, and in space can no longer be taken for granted," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said last week.
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My Comment: In short .... this is the Pentagon's way of keeping the defense industry and contractors alive and profitable.
Update: In planning for the future, the Pentagon sees fewer troops and more technology -- Walter Pincus, Washington Post
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