Gates plans to cut $78B from Pentagon budget

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced today he will cut $78 billion from the Pentagon's budget in the next five years — money that will come from shrinking the military's ground force, increasing health-care premiums for troops and other politically unpopular cost-saving measures.

The plan also identifies a separate $100 billion in savings, including the cancellation of a $14 billion amphibious Marine vehicle. However, the services will be allowed to reinvest that money in new weapon systems and programs that benefit troops, he said.

The move is part of a broader effort to trim fat from the military's mammoth half-trillion annual budget in light of the nation's ballooning deficit.

""We are not exempt from scrutiny and being asked to figure out what we are doing with less dollars," Gates told reporters.

But parts of the plan are likely to run into serious opposition from Congress. Lawmakers have fought past proposals to increase health-care premiums and cut weapons programs that produce jobs in their states.