* Congressional criticism of defense budget limited so far

* Gates asserting greater control

* Changing dynamics seen in defense procurement (Adds reaction, paragraphs 7-15)

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview aired on Sunday that he is optimistic his recommendations for overhauling defense spending can survive an upcoming budget fight in Congress.

Gates told CNN that he has been surprised by the limited scope of criticism aimed so far at his recommendations for the Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, and had heard some "important voices raised in support."

"I'm relatively optimistic, actually," he said in the interview, which was taped last week. "I think we've presented, as one news magazine referred to it, a radically sane set of proposals. They don't represent a cut, and where we have eliminated one program, you have added to others."

Gates is recommending a $534 billion defense budget for fiscal year 2010 as part of the $3.4 trillion federal budget plan approved by Congress on Wednesday.

The defense budget recommendations do not include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the broader U.S. war on terrorism.

A more detailed 2010 budget proposal is expected to arrive as early as this week on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers decide what will, and will not be, included in the final version.