WASHINGTON – The Navy would retire one of its 12 aircraft carriers and the Air Force would reduce its buy of F-22 stealth fighters under budget proposals being discussed in the Pentagon, officials said Thursday.
Eric Ruff, a Pentagon spokesman, said he could not discuss specifics of the 2006 fiscal year defense budget to be submitted by President Bush for consideration by Congress early in 2005.
Other officials said it appeared likely that for cost-saving reasons the Navy would retire one of its 12 carriers.
The New York Times reported Thursday that, under a Pentagon proposal, the Navy would retire the USS John F. Kennedy carrier next year and reduce the number of new LPD-17 San Antonio-class amphibious landing ships being built at a cost of about $1.2 billion apiece by Northrop Grumman.
The Kennedy is home-ported at Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, Fla.
In Florida Thursday, members of the state’s congressional delegation and Gov. Jeb Bush said they each had received a phone call from Navy Secretary Gordon England last week telling them that Kennedy could be decommissioned.
The Kennedy is currently scheduled to be retired in 2018. It has been in the carrier fleet since 1968 and is the third oldest of the 12 active carriers. Only the USS Enterprise and USS Kitty Hawk are older.
The Times on Wednesday was first to report that the Pentagon plans to curtail the F-22 fighter program. It said Pentagon officials had already informed the White House and members of Congress, and that the plan reflects an effort by the Bush administration to find savings that can help offset the unexpectedly high cost of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon is spending more than $4 billion a month in Iraq and about $1 billion a month in Afghanistan.
All of the military services are expecting to absorb program cuts for 2006, and officials said the Air Force is likely to achieve savings in the F-22 program by buying fewer than originally planned. It already has invested about $40 billion in research, development and early production.
Boeing is a subcontractor for the F-22 program.
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