US defence department braces for budget cut

Washington: The US Defence Department is bracing for budget cuts set to be announced next week, Xinhua reported.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said on Friday that the defence budget proposals will have a topline request of $525 billion for fiscal year 2013, set to begin in October, with $88.4 billion more for overseas contingency operations, mostly in Afghanistan.

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey will spend time next week in Congressional testimonies, providing details and answering questions regarding next year's defence budget after its scheduled rollout next Monday.

The budget is based on a strategy that reflects the $487 billion spending cuts the Budget Control Act set for defence spending over the next 10 years.

It calls for a smaller military, focused away from future protracted ground campaigns and supporting US national security priorities of the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East regions.