Pentagon manpower costs crowding out weapons

The Obama administration's $533.7 billion defense budget boosts U.S. military spending by 4 percent, but inflation and increased personnel costs will more than eat up that amount. Many analysts expect pressure to cut "big ticket" weapons systems to increase.  Christopher Hellman of the Ploughshares-funded Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation commented that in the midst of the economic meltdown, "the Pentagon will not be spared pain." President Obama took aim at weapons procurement in his Feb. 24 address to Congress, pledging to "reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use."