WASHINGTON - Over the past eight years, U.S. defense spending has risen by about 40 percent to this year's record level: a staggering $542.5 billion. With Iraq and Afghanistan war costs thrown in, the figure rises to $612.5 billion.

That's about 20 cents out of every dollar the federal government spends.

Even before the financial crisis, defense spending was almost certain to flatten out, if not actually decrease, after adjusting for inflation.

Now, with government coffers set to be further depleted by the $700 billion financial bailout package and reduced revenues from plunging stock market profits, the next president will have to sharpen his pencil and find more cuts somewhere. Defense spending could be on the block.

Here's a look at what is known about the presidential candidates' views on defense spending.

OBAMA

* Supports Pentagon plan to expand the Army by 65,000 and to add 27,000 Marines over the next six years, at a projected cost of $100 billion.

* Calls for increase in special operations forces, language training and human intelligence to improve capability to conduct counter-insurgency operations and to help stabilize conflict zones.

* Vows to review every major weapons program.

* Skeptical of the $11 billion-a-year national missile defense program; supports it in theory, but only if the technology is proven to work and it doesn't undercut other national security priorities.

* Pledges to rehabilitate the National Guard and Reserves by restoring equipment lost to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to make the top commander of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

* Seeks a Civilian Assistance Corps, 25,000-strong, to provide doctors, lawyers, engineers, city planners, police and other civil experts available to deploy to crisis spots at home and abroad.

IN HIS WORDS: "It's time to look ahead -- at the dangers of today and tomorrow rather than those of yesterday ... It's time to break out of Washington's conventional thinking that has failed to keep pace with unconventional threats."

McCAIN

* Supports Pentagon plan to expand the Army by 65,000 and to add 27,000 Marines over the next six years, at a projected cost of $100 billion.

* Backs the deployment of national missile defenses to protect against threats from North Korea and Iran.

* Calls for restructuring the military to reduce emphasis on conventional models of heavy tank warfare and territorial control, to stress instead counterinsurgency, information warfare, counterterrorism and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

* Opposes "emergency supplemental" spending adopted by the Bush administration to help fund wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; believes such costs should be included in each annual defense budget request.

* Would review a number of major defense procurement programs, including the purchase of additional long-range cargo jets at $260 million apiece, a new laser weapon for warplanes and the development of a next-generation long-range transport jet and a high-tech future combat system with a projected price of $160 billion over 15 years.

IN HIS WORDS: Prevailing against global terrorism "will require far more than military force. It will require the use of all elements of our national power. ... In this struggle, scholarships will be far more important than smart bombs."

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