A think tank’s 27-point plan to cut defense costs calls for the Air Force to move hundreds of fighters out of active duty, and slow its rate of F-35 purchases to protect other parts of the service’s fleet.
And the report has a familiar signature: retired Gen. Norton Schwartz, the former Air Force chief of staff.
The report, produced by the Stimson Center, calls for the Defense Department to cut about $50 billion from its more than $640 billion budget. The Defense Department would save $21 billion by reducing the force by 132,100 service members from the Army and Marine Corps, $22 billion by reforming military benefitsand about $1 billion by eliminating funding for commissaries and post exchanges. It also calls for $6 billion in cuts to modernization programs, including delayed or reduced purchases in programs such as the F-35.
“A more prudent course would be to act now to prevent the disruptive effect of sequestration, along with reshaping the defense budget on the basis of a strategy that is designed to protect America’s national security interests in the years ahead,” the report states.
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