England, who was nominated to replace Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, told the Senate Armed Services Committee "we do need to look at the whole acquisition area."

The Pentagon earlier this year scaled back the number of F-22 fighters, C-130J cargo planes and navy destroyers it plans to buy as budget cutters looked for ways to ease a ballooning US deficit.

But congressional auditors have warned that costs of major weapons systems are exploding at a time when defense budgets are being squeezed by an unexpectedly long war in Iraq.

Even with the cuts, the proposed US defense budget for 2006 is more than 419 billion dollars, not including the costs of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A scandal over an air force deal to lease air refueling planes from Boeing has also raised concerns that business-friendly acquisition policies have fueled rising costs and undermined the integrity of the system.

"I can tell you it has my personal attention," England told the senators, adding that the acquisition issues would be looked at closely during a comprehensive strategy review now underway in the Defense Department.

He said he believed the problems in the air force acquisitions programs arising from the Boeing scandal have been fixed.

"But this is an area that will require a lot of attention and work," he said.

Senators expressed dismay, however, over the air force's failure to hold people accountable for the Boeing scandal and a separate scandal over rapes and other sexual misconduct at the Air Force Academy, the service's premier school for future officers.

England, 67, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate.

He was praised by senators on both sides of the aisle as a problem solver with good relations with members of Congress.

A former top executive of General Dynamics, England has served twice as navy secretary under President George W. Bush with a stint in between as deputy secretary of the newly created Department of Homeland Defense.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has often turned to England for difficult assignments, such as reforming the Defense Department's civilian personnel system and overseeing tribunals handling the status of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Secretary England has been the department's Mr. Fix-It for the last four years," said Senator Carl Levin, the committee's ranking democrat.