Army industrial base said to be in 'death spiral'.

At what point will Army readiness be compromised by sharp reductions in research, development and acquisition spending?

"We are already at that point," said Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology.

The Army-owned manufacturing facilities were in a "death spiral," she said. R&D and acquisition accounts have dropped twice as fast as the Army top line budget over the past three years, she said. Parsing out the design and development accounts, the Army now has the smallest budget of all the armed services.

"That is very disconcerting for our future," she said.

Overall budget reductions, last year's government shutdown and furloughs of the civilian workforce, have all taken their tolls, she said. Budget cuts do not equate to less work. They equate to more work as programs are strung out, Shyu said. That means more contracts have to be issued. Meanwhile, the vital contracting workforce is being "slashed and burned," she said. One-third the budget...