WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended on halting production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet and scrapping a new helicopter for the president as he outlined deep cuts to many of the US military’s biggest weapons programs.

Gates said his $534 billion budget proposal represents a “fundamental overhaul” in defense acquisition and reflects in priorities from fighting controversial wars to the newer threats US forces face from insurgents in places such as Afghanistan.

The department must ensure it has the right programs and money to “fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years to come, while at the same time providing a hedge against other risks,” Gates said as he revealed details of his budget for the next fiscal year.

The promised emphasis on budget pairing is a reversal from the Bush years, which included a doubling of the Pentagon’s spending since 2001. spending on the tanks, fighter planes, ships, missiles and other weapons accounted for about a third of all defense-spending last year. But Gates noted more money will be needed in areas such as personnel to the Army and Marines expand the size of their forces.

Production of the F-22 fighter jet, which cost $140 million apiece, would be halted at 187. Plans to build a new helicopter for the president and a helicopter to rescue downed pilots would be canceled. A new communications satellite would be scrapped and the program for a new Air Force transport plane would be ended.

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