As the Obama administration unveils its fiscal 2012 budget Monday, the Pentagon is expected to take a hit. In advance of the budget’s release, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced significant cuts to Pentagon programs, totaling $78 billion over five years. The cuts are deep and far-reaching and will jeopardize the U.S.’s ability to fight and win wars.

Several critical weapon systems, believed safe after surviving a round of cuts in 2009, will now be defunded — forcing the services to develop less desirable options for force modernization already long overdue.