The Insider

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says Defense Secretary Robert Gates will reveal "very detailed" information about his budget decisions at today's 1:30 p.m. press briefing.

"During this press conference he will read a lengthy statement explaining each of his decisions and the strategic rationale behind them and then he will take questions," Morrell told us.

Stay tuned.

Live-blogging the big press conference. . . .

* Gates opens by noting "unorthodox" approach -- pointedly noting it was approved by President Obama.

* "These recommendations will profoundly reform how this department does business."

* Cumulative result of Gates' 30 years in the national security arena.

* Consulted closely with president.

* Chairman and vice chairman "in complete accord" with these recommendations.

* Would have made almost all of the recommendations regardless of the budget situation.

* New or additional investments in key areas including a fifth-generation tactical fighter capability -- increasing the buy of the F-35 from 14 in '09 to 30 in FY-10: $6.8 billion to $11.2 billion. 513 over the FYDP, 2,443 total.

* 31 F/A-18s in FY-10.

* Retire more older aircraft.

* End production of the F-22A with only four requested in FY-09.

* $700 million for most capable theater missile defense systems: Navy Standard Missile and THAAD systems.

* More Aegis ship funding.

* More cyber experts: from 80 students to more than 200.

* Solicit new tanker bids this summer.

* Will not pursue follow-on Air Force bomber until better understanding the need.

* Need for acquisition and contracting reform and better oversight

* Welcomes Levin-McCain bill on acquisition reform

* Increase the size of acquisition workforce -- hiring 9,000 more professionals by 2015, with 4,000+ in FY-10; also converting many contractor slots

* Greater funding flexibility needed.

* Asked about congressional reaction, Gates notes decisions will be controversial, says he hopes Congress will "rise above parochial interests" and consider the best interests of the nation.

* Gates says he did not take political interests into account in making decisions. Hopes Obama will approve and Congress will support "as much of it as possible."

* Decisions "emanate directly from the National Defense Strategy," Gates says -- strong analytical base.

* Programs he recommends delaying will be examined in the QDR. A list of "probably 10 or a dozen or more" issues to be examined in the QDR that came out of the exercise.

* F-22A decision: "Not a close call," Gates says. "We have fulfilled the program -- it's not like we're killing the F-22."

* "The military advice that I got was that there is no military requirement for F-22s" beyond current level -- including advice from the Air Force.

* More money for rotorcraft: "most focused" on "the need for more helicopters." In analysis noted principal shortfall was in crews, not airframes. Virtually all of the additional money going to accelerate the training of crews and pilots.

* "There needs to be a new presidential helicopter." Still good service life in current fleet and "we have time to do this." Will review requirements after FY-10 budget is submitted.

* Canceling CSAR-X, but will look at whether there is a requirement for a specialized search-and-rescue helicopter.

The statement of Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as released by the Pentagon:

I fully support the program decisions Secretary Gates has laid out today. None of them was easy to make. All of them are vital to the future.

These decisions put our people first. I have said and remain convinced the best way to guarantee our future is to support our troops and their families. It is the "recruit" and "retain" choices of American families that will make or break the all volunteer force. I could not agree more strongly with him making this his top priority.

The Secretary also took pains to shape that force by seeking better balance. If adopted in the President’s budget and passed into law, his recommendations will improve critical "enablers," such as aviation, special forces, cyber operations, civil affairs, intelligence analysis, unmanned aerial vehicles, MRAPs, and language skills. These are the capabilities we desperately need for the wars we are fighting and the ones we are likely to fight in years to come.

Some will argue he is tilting dangerously away from conventional capabilities. He is not. His decisions with respect to missile defense, tactical aviation, shipbuilding, Army modernization, ISR, and communications bear witness to his commitment to preserving our traditional strengths. In truth, he is evening out what has been in this time of war a fairly lop-sided approach to defense acquisition.

If we are what we buy, one might conclude we have become the world’s finest counter-insurgency force by sheer will alone. We simply must invest more aggressively in this vital mission.

Our ground forces remain our center of gravity in the current fight. The Secretary has protected the size of those forces. By adjusting active Army BCT growth to 45, he has ensured our ability to impact the fight sooner, increase dwell time, and reduce overall demand on equipment. This commitment will provide better manned units and end stop-loss. He has also provided for a healthy and attainable Army modernization program.

In all this, Secretary Gates is working hard to fix a flawed procurement process. Programs that aren’t performing well are getting the scrutiny they deserve. The acquisition workforce is getting the manpower and expertise it merits. And a struggling industrial base is getting the support and the oversight it warrants. More critically, we -- the military leadership of the nation -- are getting the top-down guidance we need to develop the right warfighting capabilities.

The Secretary presided over a comprehensive and collaborative process to arrive at his decisions. Every Service Chief and Combatant Commander had a voice, and every one of them used it. I know I speak for all of them when I say we are prepared to execute each and every one of these recommendations.

With speculation over which defense programs will suffer the budget ax reaching a fever pitch just days before Defense Secretary Robert Gates is scheduled to brief Congress on those cuts, the developer of the Airborne Laser -- one of the programs with a bulls-eye on it -- today continued its full-court-press to sway public opinion on the effort, touting the ancillary benefits from that multiyear, multibillion-dollar program.

"Continued Airborne Laser development can protect a very perishable industrial base," one that has also helped develop very advanced optics that could be used in other laser projects, Boeing Vice President and General Manager of Missile Defense Systems Greg Hyslop told a Capitol Hill audience this morning.

Hyslop, who spoke at a Marshall Institute-sponsored event, also touted other possible missions for ABL above and beyond shooting down ballistic missiles in their boost phase, like cruise missile defense or counter-air defense.

Inside the Air Force cited Boeing officials last month warning that roughly 1,000 jobs -- and the United States' edge in laser technology -- are at risk if the ABL program is canceled.

An operational fleet of Airborne Laser aircraft is still years -- possibly decades -- away, and Boeing estimates that the per-plane cost could be between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. The Air Force predicts that a seven-aircraft fleet would be needed to successfully defend the United States from possible missile attacks.

As such, ABL has been on the table as one program that could be vulnerable in budget cuts predicted for the fiscal year 2010 defense budget.

. . . ((L))awmakers arguing for the cancellation of the program noted ABL’s schedule delays and cost increases. Other congressmen fighting for the program wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates pleading for the continuation of the laser’s development and did so because of their concerns of reports of the project’s possible termination.

But ABL wasn't the only boost-phase missile defense program being touted this morning. Michael Booen, Raytheon's vice president of advanced missile defense systems, spoke about his company's nascent effort to build an air-launched missile to shoot down ballistic missiles early in flight.

The proposed Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCADE) is a two-stage missile with an infrared seeker that is designed to intercept short- and medium-range missiles in their boost phase. It is essentially an upgraded Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), which, Raytheon officials say, means that any aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicle capable of carrying AMRAAM can carry NCADE.

The Missile Defense Agency awarded Raytheon a $10 million contract last year to continue research-and-development work on NCADE.

Booen said this morning that the interceptors could be built for less than $1 million apiece.