Sec. Gates to Slash Pentagon Budget

There goes the untouchable military budget: Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to announce around $100 billion in cuts to Pentagon spending on Thursday. The Defense Department has been under increasing pressure to cut costs in the face of a mounting national debt and a decrease in troops fighting in Iraq. (Spending, excluding war funds, is projected to reach $566 billion in 2012.) Among the programs expected to be cut are a 40-ton amphibious landing craft and an air-to-air missile being developed by defense contractor Raytheon. The White House Office of Management and Budget has ordered the Pentagon to reduce its budget by $90 billion over the next five years, trade publication Defense News reported in December.