WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will have to put hundreds of thousands of civilian workers on unpaid leave, slash ship and aircraft maintenance and sharply curtail training if $46 billion in new spending cuts go into effect in two weeks, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday.

Carter, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Congress to further delay the automatic across-the-board cuts known as sequestration, saying: "These devastating events are no longer distant problems. The wolf is at the door."

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Jackie Frank)