Washington: US President George W Bush has proposed a record $434 billion defense budget for 2007. The main aim of the budget is to fund the fight against terrorism and conventional conflicts.
The Pentagon budget represented a 4.8 per cent boost over current military spending as Bush seeks cuts in domestic programs. The budget does not include tens of billions of dollars in proposed new financing of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claims the funds are necessary to protect the US.
The White House estimates total defense outlays in 2007 at more than $504 billion.
It keeps much of the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan out of the annual defense budget, seeking separate funding for that through emergency spending bills.
The White House said it is asking for $50 billion as a down payment for the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007.
But it plans to go back to Congress to cover remaining costs, including the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces.
The proposed 2007 budget includes funding for more Predator surveillance drones, more special operations forces and making the army fit for "irregular" wars requiring fast deployments.
The administration also wants money for state-of-the-art fighter aircraft and other costly Cold War-era weapons.
The 2007 budget boosts weapons procurement to $84.2 billion, an eight percent hike over 2006, and weapons research and development to $73.2 billion, a slight increase.
Analysts say the US Congress, under political pressure in an election year, is unlikely to cut the budget request, which works out to around 16 per cent of annual federal budget.
(With AFP inputs)
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