Under the plan -- which would require congressional approval -- the Pentagon would retire one of the Navy's dozen aircraft carriers, purchase fewer amphibious landing ships for the Marines and delay the creation of an expensive army combat system featuring high-tech weapons, among other measures, the Times said.

The planned cuts are in response to White House demands for all federal agencies to trim spending requests for the 2006 fiscal year, which are to be presented to lawmakers in early 2005, the daily noted.

The White House has come under increasing pressure to stem growing deficits while continuing to fund the costly military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which now cost more than five billion dollars a month combined.

Pentagon spending has ballooned since the September 11 attacks, surging 41 percent to around 420 billion dollars this year, the Times said.

The plan would cut up to 10 billion dollars from the Pentagon's 2006 budget alone.

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