"Of course, there are always things that we would like to buy for our defence capability, for our long term-defence capability, more things we would like to buy than we can afford in any one particular year," he said.
But that obscurity cannot be a long-term defence.
The long-term defence of privilege necessitates a high degree of tactical flexibility.
India is clearly vulnerable to these security risks from a country that is its biggest long-term defence worry.
More big, long-term defence contracts would provide a useful stabiliser against the ups and downs of the civil-aircraft market.
He says the EDF and Environment Agency proposals are short-sighted and won't provide any long-term defence against the longshore drift that affects the stretch of coast from Kent into East Sussex.
The Lisbon conference, seeking to provide the forces necessary for NATO's Long-Term Defence Plan, called for an expansion to ninety-six divisions.
The package of funding needed to purchase and introduce the Globemasters into service was provided as a supplement to the government's long-term defence funding program, so the ADF did not have to forego any other planned capabilities.
They also endorsed changes to NATO's defence planning, hoping that the Alliance's long-term defence planning process would become more flexible, thereby helping member countries generate forces that can reach further, faster and still take on the full range of missions.
"Over the long term we will transition our defence trade beyond the buyer-seller relationship to substantial co-production and eventually high technology joint research and development," Mr Panetta said.
In February 2008, the current reform plan was described as: "The short term, 2008-2010, will see the setting in place of a Rapid Reaction Force; the medium term, 2008 -2015, with a Covering Force; and finally the long term, 2015-2020, with a Principal Defence Force".
