Pentagon Seeks Added Funding : $2.8-Billion Request Proposes New Rockets

Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger asked Congress for an extra $2.8 billion for the current fiscal year Monday, including funds to begin development of a new generation of rockets needed to boost into orbit components of the “Star Wars” system too heavy for existing launchers.

Overall, the “Star Wars” missile defense program accounted for $500 million of the supplemental budget request. Other items included funds for military pay raises, improved health insurance for service families, increased training and destruction of obsolete stocks of poison gases.

Weinberger called a special press conference to announce the request, even though Congress will not return to session until next week. Next Monday, he plans to announce the Pentagon’s budget request for the next fiscal year, reported to be about $312 billion.

Congress appropriated $289.4 billion for the Pentagon in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Weinberger’s latest request--expected to encounter stiff opposition on Capitol Hill--would boost the year’s total to $292.2 billion, approximately the same level as last year.

Most of the supplemental request represents items that had been submitted to Congress earlier, but the proposal for development of a super space rocket is new.

“It has become increasingly apparent to us that it is important to have the capacity to lift heavy loads,” Weinberger said. “What we need now is . . . the ability to continue work and to work along lines that seem much more promising than they did perhaps a couple of months ago.”

Weinberger requested $250 million for “space transportation,” including the heavy lifter that other Pentagon officials said would cost about $110 million. The officials said the rocket would be designed to lift payloads of 50 to 75 tons. The maximum payload of the space shuttle is 32 tons. The biggest Soviet rockets have an estimated capacity of about 30 tons.

Will Ask More Money

Weinberger said he would request still more money for the rocket when he submits his budget next week for the 1988 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 1987.

He said he did not know when the rocket would be ready, “but it will take longer without the supplemental than with it.”

Congress voted $3.6 billion for the “Star Wars” program this fiscal year, far below the Administration’s $5.4-billion request.

Weinberger said that almost half of the supplemental request was for things that Congress either authorized or required but failed to appropriate money to finance.

‘Must Pay’ Items

“Failure to provide supplemental funding in these areas would require programs already approved by Congress to be reduced in order to absorb these ‘must pay’ items,” the Pentagon said in a press release that accompanied the budget request.

Weinberger said Congress directed the Pentagon to get rid of aging--and increasingly dangerous--stocks of chemical weapons by 1994 without appropriating the money to pay for the project. He requested $500 million in the supplemental bill to procure equipment and assign personnel to the task.

Congress also authorized a 3% military pay raise but did not vote the necessary money. Weinberger asked for $100 million for that purpose.

Funds for Special Units

He also requested $330 million to improve the capability of special operations units, the elite forces such as Army Green Berets or Navy SEALS designed to fight guerrilla-type conflicts or anti-terrorism operations. The improvements were ordered by the lawmakers.

Weinberger requested $262 million for training and maintenance that he said would enhance the readiness of U.S. conventional forces to fight. He also asked for $340 million in health insurance improvements for military families and $342 million to offset the impact of declines in the value of the dollar at overseas posts.

After voting major increases in military spending early in the Reagan Administration, Congress has become far more resistant to Pentagon budgets recently. With Democrats now in control of both the Senate and House, Defense Department officials expect rough going with the supplemental request and with the 1988 budget.