With a ballooning deficit, a bloated defense department, and a defense secretary aiming to cut $78 billion from the defense budget within the next five years, high-tech defense programs are being put on the chopping block. 

In the past two years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has announced cuts to almost all of the DoD’s major programs, including a substantial decrease in the production of F-22 fighters and Zumwalt class destroyers, the cancellation of the Future Combat Systems manned ground vehicles, and the expected cancellation of the Marine Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.

While over-budget programs have met the axe, the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), on schedule and within budget, appears unfazed by the cuts.

Just last month, the ONR ran the first test of its electromagnetic rail gun, a weapon capable of firing projectiles 200 nautical miles in six minutes on electricity alone. The weapon would replace traditional, gunpowder-fired cannons and allow ships to shoot deep into enemy territory.

But the ONR reached its biggest break just last week, when its Los Alamos, New Mexico-based lab reached a major advancement in the development of its Free Electron Laser, a defensive weapon capable of zapping multiple targets out of the sky by shooting electrons at high velocities. According to ONR, the breakthrough puts the project nine months ahead of schedule and delivers the Navy one of the most advanced weapons on earth.

Though the projects may seem destined for success, or at least completed by the end of the decade, a recent CBS/New York Times poll says that when it comes to budget cuts, popular opinion places the Pentagon at the top of the list.  As Democrats beam at the prospect of slashing what was once a national third rail, congressional Republicans, with the rise of the Tea Party, are seemingly divided on the matter. 

In August, then-Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) criticized Gates’ planned reductions, including the elimination of the Joint Forces Command. Now, Republicans such as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and even Cantor have lined up to praise the new cuts, while Democrats like Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) have suggested cutting as much as $1 trillion during the next ten years.

The rising tide of deficit hawks in the 112th Congress aligned with traditional Democratic antipathy toward the Defense Department may prove detrimental to weapons initiatives. And though successful planning and hi-tech weapons may earn them some points, in this economic climate, no amount of dazzling technology will guarantee the projects’ future.