If the current drawdown in US military spending were to follow historical trends, the Defense Department would be spending—for "the first time in modern history"—more money on developing new technologies than in procuring equipment, said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. However, thus far during the downturn, which began in Fiscal 2010, the military is bucking that trend, he said, citing a new CSBA report during a media briefing in Washington, D.C, on Oct. 24. That's because the ratio of procurement funding to research, development, test, and evaluation funding actually has "steadily increased," meaning the Pentagon has cut RDT&E funding proportionately more than procurement fund-ing, said Harrison.
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