U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will unveil his plan to drastically cut the military budget by billions of dollars later this afternoon. Hagel is going to have a tough time convincing lawmakers to approve a budget and cut troop levels military hasn't seen since pre-World War II.

The proposal calls for the Army to be cut to about 450,000 troops, down from a peak of 570,000 after the Sept. 11 attacks. Troop levels were already slated to drop to 480,000 — but now even more are on the chopping block.

Hagel also wants to eliminate the fleet of A-10 "tank killer" aircraft, designed in the 1970s to go after targets on the ground. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., whose husband was an A-10 pilot, has already vowed to fight plans to retire the plane.

Also slated for retirement is the U-2 spy plane, the stalwart of Cold War reconnaissance. The military is turning to new methods of surveillance, like the Global Hawk.

I wonder what kind of impact this will have on Davis Mountain Air Force Base.

(via: MSN)