Obama signs US budget cuts as Republicans have their way

American President Barack Obama has signed an order that starts putting into effect steep across-the-board budget cuts that would net the Treasury $85 billion after hectic talks with the opposition over Friday for a compromise failed.

Spending cuts will hit the US military and a vast array of other government programmes. The cuts, known as the "sequester," will take $85 bn from the US federal budget between Saturday and 1 October.

The military programme for the acquisition of an increasing number of F-35 fighter planes has been 'sequestered from the sequestration' by the Pentagon.

The top military decision-maker of the US government on Thursday made a down payment of $333.7 million to Lockheed Martin Corp towards the purchase of 35 more F-35s, in addition to the 65 that are again operational after a brief grounding over a suspected engine snag (See: US clears F-35 fighters after grounding over turbine crack).

The budget sequester was agreed upon in 2011 as part of a deal to lift the federal debt ceiling.

Both Obama and the Republican leaders in the House and Senate failed to reach a compromise in a last-minute White House meeting before midnight.