Transcript here. Read more about the budget at the Department of Defense here.
The budget cancels the presidential helicopter project that McCain suggested Obama axe and Obama was all too happy to oblige, saying the helicopter he had was fine.
But expect a lot of Boo Hoo-ing from Boeing, Lockheed and other defense contractors, lawmakers and hard right extremists, Fox "News" and Rudy Guiliani. Much was cut and priorities were shifted. There will be a lot of complaints about jobs lost and security risks....
Gates said he didn't take politics into account: The budget cancels the presidential helicopter project that McCain suggested Obama axe and Obama was all too happy to oblige, saying the helicopter he had was fine.
The secretary also would like to end other under-performing programs, such as the VH-71 presidential helicopter. “This program was originally designed to provide 23 helicopters to support the president at a cost of $6.5 billion,” he said. “Today, the program is estimated to cost over $13 billion, has fallen six years behind schedule, and runs the risk of not delivering the requested capability.”The new budget also cancels the F-22 in favor of the F-35.
But expect a lot of Boo Hoo-ing from Boeing, Lockheed and other defense contractors, lawmakers and hard right extremists, Fox "News" and Rudy Guiliani. Much was cut and priorities were shifted. There will be a lot of complaints about jobs lost and security risks....
I set out here to develop a budget and a program, really, that I thought best served the national security interests of the United States. And I, frankly, decided that I would not take the political issues associated with any of these programs into account; I would just do what I thought was best for the country. And my hope is that in the months ahead, that, first, the president will approve this budget, and then second, that the Congress, after careful deliberation, will support as much of it as possible.
There will be a new competition for a new presidential copter:Q Then, just -- did I understand correctly that you want to restart the presidential helicopter competition, write new requirements, or --
SEC. GATES: Yes. We will -- we need -- there needs to be a new presidential helicopter. There's still good service life left in the ones that are in the fleet right now. So we have time to do this. And so we will begin a review of the requirements with the White House as soon as the FY '10 budget is submitted.
