【英语国际】美国军费开支削减计划让国防部很受伤

The deficit commission's interim proposal to cut $100 billion in military spending, if adopted, would take a toll on weapons programs, health-care benefits and overseas bases.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has already launched a drive to eliminate $100 billion in what he calls 'unnecessary costs' in the next five years. Those savings were designed to be plowed back into weapons procurement and other accounts. The panel is floating a proposal to apply the savings to deficit reduction instead.

'This is a pretty heavy hit to the defense industry,' said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute think tank. 'Applying the savings to deficit reduction would take money away from the department Gates was planning to use for modernization -- meaning weapons purchases.'

As part of the $100 billion reduction, the panel suggested possible cuts to specific weapons programs, including the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle and one version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Those cancellations could contribute to an across-the-board, 15% procurement cut by 2015.

U.S. military spending tops $700 billion a year, and is by the far the largest discretionary portion of the federal budget.

The panel also took on the politically controversial subject of health care for military service members, retirees and their families, which have risen from $19 billion a decade ago to roughly $50 billion. Congress has rejected proposals in the past to raise premiums for Tricare, the military's health plan. New options would include raising some Tricare premiums.

The proposals also have the potential to dramatically reshape the U.S. military footprint around the globe. The U.S. has around 150,000 military personnel at bases in Europe and Asia; the panel's draft recommends cutting that number by a third.

如果美国赤字委员会提出的削减1000亿美元军费开支的临时提案被采纳，将会对美国的武器计划、医疗福利和海外军事基地产生巨大影响。

美国国防部部长盖茨（Robert Gates）已经启动了一个计划，在未来五年削减1000亿美元他所说的“不必要的开支”。省下来的钱将重新投入武器采购和其他项目。赤字委员会正申请将这些钱用于削减赤字。

智库莱克星顿学院（Lexington Institute）首席运营长汤姆森（Loren Thompson）说，这对国防工业是个不小的打击，如果将减少的军费预算用于削减赤字，那么就意味着会拿走盖茨准备用于军事现代化、也就是购买武器的钱。

作为这1000亿美元开支削减计划的一部分，赤字委员会建议对某些特定的武器计划进行削减，包括海军陆战队（Marine Corps）的远征战斗载具（Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle），美国陆军的地面作战载具（Ground Combat Vehicle）和F-35联合攻击战斗机的一种机型。取消这些武器将会导致2015年前武器购买整体减少15%。

美国的军事开支每年超过7000亿美元，是目前为止联邦预算可最大的可调整部分。

赤字委员会还提出了政治上颇具争议的服役人员、退休人员及家属的医疗保险问题，这些人的医保费用从十年前的190亿美元增至约500亿美元。之前，国会拒绝了提高军事医疗计划Tricare保险费的提案。新提案将会包括提高Tricare的一些保险费。

这些提案同时还有可能重塑美国在全球的军事力量。美国在欧洲和亚洲的军事基地拥有15万左右的军事人员，赤字委员会提出的草案建议将这个数字削减三分之一。