Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told the conference that “DoD will be fortunate to even get 1 percent real growth.”For hardware programs, declining budgets will mean “recapitalization over modernization,” or buying more of the platforms already in use instead of costly new systems.”Gates may be able to hold on for a while, but once the long knives come out,” the Pentagon will be forced to reduce its budgets “to address the nation’s fiscal situation,” said Krepinevich, who is also a Pentagon adviser.