US Navy budget cuts reducing ability to respond to future crisis, says top officer

The chief of naval operations in the United States has said defense budget cuts have reduced the number of Navy forces that would respond to an emergency in the Persian Gulf and the Western Pacific.

Admiral Jonathan Greenert told reporters at the Pentagon that the budget cuts were undercutting the Navy's ability to respond rapidly to future crises around the globe.

According to the Washington Times, until this year, the Navy had maintained two carrier groups in the Gulf.

Only one is maintained there now because of spending cuts known as sequestration that will require the Pentagon to trim its spending by 500 billion dollars over the next 10 years, the report said.

According to the report, the Navy withdrew all combat ships from its Southern Command, curtailed training and deployments, halted restoration and modernization projects and minimized base operations after sequestration kicked into effect.

He said that the situation will get worse if sequestration is not lifted for 2014, adding that the Navy would have to trim its budget by 14 billion dollars, and slow shipbuilding.

He added that the Navy is asking Congress to allow it to re-programme funds and make money available for ship repair and operations this year.