Defense cuts projected under any budget scenario.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Insider

* Gordon Adams, a former budget official during the Clinton administration and a professor at American University, describes the role of defense spending as "residual" in the context of deficit-reduction talks. "It's something that gets dealt with as you move along the path," Adams said. Most of the high-level discussions deal with health costs and taxes, not defense.

Cuts to military spending are inevitable, not because of the fiscal cliff, but because two major wars are ending. Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, he predicted the Pentagon will "go over a pothole, not a cliff"

Under any budget scenario, analysts agree, acquisition programs would be hard hit. But Pentagon procurement managers tell Adams that even sequestration cuts--about 9.2 percent across the board--would be...