With 2015 budget, Pentagon looks beyond Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon unveiled a $496 billion (297 billion pounds) base budget on Tuesday that shifts the United States from its war-footing for the first time in a dozen years, cutting the size of the military to pay for training and new weapons systems in an era of tighter spending.

The budget sets the Obama administration on a collision course with Congress by seeking to eliminate popular older weapons and reform military compensation while proposing an additional $26.4 billion in military spending to be paid for by closing tax loopholes and cutting mandatory spending.