
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 2, 1991                   TAG: 9102020073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

BUSH TO ASK $295 BILLION FOR DEFENSE

President Bush is proposing a defense budget of $295 billion for fiscal 1992 that includes $4.6 billion for the Strategic Defense Initiative and money for four B-2 stealth bombers, congressional sources said Friday.

The request for SDI would, if approved, be $1.7 billion more than the $2.9 billion Congress and the administration agreed to last year. Approval for four B-2s would double the number Congress financed last year.

The overall budget, a decrease of almost $4 billion from last year's amount, is the first Persian Gulf war budget that also reflects a downturn in defense spending.

The budget does not include any of the costs of the war and U.S. participation in Operation Desert Storm, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates could range from $28 billion to $86 billion.

Among the major terminations in the president's proposal, according to sources who spoke on condition they not be identified, are the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the Trident submarine and the Air Force's Advanced Tactical Aircraft.

Last year's budget amounted to $298.9 billion in real spending and $285.6 in the authority given to the Defense Department for the budget.

Consistent with the levels set by the Bush administration and the Congress in the budget agreement reached late last year, real spending in the new budget is $295.2 billion while the authority totals $290.8 billion.

The budget follows the steep reduction of 25 percent in military personnel proposed by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney over the next five years, even through the war has forced the Pentagon to call up reservists and National Guard units.

Army divisions will be cut from 28 to 18 by fiscal 1995, the number of ships in the Navy will drop from 545 to 451, and the total of tactical fighter wings will decrease from 36 to 26, according to sources.

The Pentagon envisions that the current total manpower of 2.1 million will be reduced to 1.9 million by Oct. 1 of this year and drop down to 1.6 million by fiscal 1995.

The number of aircraft carriers will be cut by one, from 13 to 12 by fiscal 1995, although the budget for fiscal 1993 includes $852 million in advanced procurement for a new carrier.

Certain to be a major issue in Congress is the Pentagon's request for four B-2 stealth bombers.

Last year, the House voted to stop the program at the 15 planes currently under development while the Senate narrowly agreed to allow the program to go forward with the Pentagon's goal of 75 planes.

by CNB