WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is announcing the latest round of cost-cutting measures for the military, including a plan to do away with a new amphibious vehicle that can ferry troops to shore while under fire. The plan is aimed at staving off potentially deeper cuts by the White House or Congress by showing that the Pentagon is taking seriously a call to rein in the nation's deficit. The Defense Department is responsible for the biggest piece of discretionary spending in the federal government's annual budget. It's been largely protected until now. Newly elected tea party activists, including Sen. Rand Paul, have said that cuts to military spending must be considered if the federal government is to reduce its deficit. “Gates has done a good job so far in protecting the budget,” said Loren Thompson, head of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute and adviser to several major defense contractors. “But the deficit is so huge and the other claims on the budget so big that he is starting to lose ground,” Thompson said.
