More procurement falloffs on the Horizon.

* The Defense Department's fiscal year 2017 budget request would reduce procurement relative to what was planned in the fiscal year 2016 request, and additional cuts are possible after the proposal makes its way through Congress, according to a recent report.

The Pentagon's latest request calls for a $6.8 billion drop in procurement relative to what was enacted in 2016. That would represent a $9.6 billion reduction compared with previous plans for 2017, said the American Enterprise Institute report, "2017 Defense Budget: Offset promising but today's procurement disproportionately pays the bills."

It notes that some high-tech weapons programs --such as advanced munitions--will see larger investments in line with the Defense Department's new "offset" strategy.

These "investments are paid for by procurement reductions not only in 2017, but also throughout the entire five-year future years defense plan," the report said.

A number of programs took a hit, it notes.

"The budget's bill payers are many. They include Navy and Army aviation programs, the new Air Force bomber and airlift, and many small reductions spread across hundreds of line items in the modernization accounts, including procurement and research, development, test and evaluation," it said.

Procurement could take a further hit if anticipated savings in the budget proposal are not realized and topline spending is not increased by lawmakers, the report noted.

"Defense leaders made many rosy...