Defense: Procurement outlook still cloudy

Despite months of speculation over Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's approach to shoring up the beleaguered Defense procurement budget, it remains to be seen how the Bush administration will close the gap between the Pentagon's weapons modernization programs and the limited funding for completing

The military services have ambitious plans to retool their enterprises for the future. The Navy wants to maintain or increase its fleet, which threatens to shrink to fewer than 300 ships at the current rate of shipbuilding. The Air Force wants to replace its fleet of rapidly aging aircraft. And the Army wants to transform its heavy, lumbering force into a more agile, flexible force able to respond to a range of contingencies.

The general consensus is that those are laudable goals, but it is unclear how the services will achieve them. The Defense Department's proposed 2002 acquisition budget is $109 billion, including $61.6 billion for procurement and $47.4 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation. Without a substantial and sustained increase over the next several years, the services will not be able to buy the aircraft, ships and artillery they say they need. The administration is reviewing military strategy and modernization plans and has promised major reforms in how and what the department buys.