Georgia underscores need for strong US military-CEO

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The violent conflict between Russia and Georgia underscores the need for the U.S. military to be braced for conventional warfare, and not just focused on battling terrorism, the top executive with the Pentagon's third-largest defense contractor said on Thursday.

Ron Sugar, chief executive of Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N), called the dispute between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway province of South Ossetia "a wake up call" that the U.S. military needed to continue to prepare for a wide range of missions and operations around the world.

"The conflict in the Caucasus region underscores dramatically that downsizing the military capability of the country to simply handle one threat -- the Global War on Terror -- is clearly a mistake," Sugar told Reuters in an interview.

"I think this is a wake up call that we're going to have many more threats in the future," he said, adding that even the perception of a shortfall or weakness in U.S. military capabilities could invite attacks by rogue states.

Top officials at the military services and the Pentagon are currently working on a six-year spending plan for the period beginning in fiscal year 2010.

Many analysts believe that defense spending is due to level out this coming year after sharp increases since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking attacks, given mounting budget pressures.

Sugar said the situation in the Caucasus made it clear that the world was going to remain a dangerous place -- and that it would be short-sighted to reduce the Pentagon's budget and focus solely on fighting extremists. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)