国防预算：五角大楼躲过了旋风

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EVEN Robert Gates, the American defence secretary, admits that the $708 billion requested by Barack Obama for defence spending next year is “a massive number”. The Pentagon was exempted from the administration’s spending freeze; the surge in Afghanistan consumes all the savings from the drawdown from Iraq. So America will spend more money on defence than it did during the Korean or Vietnam wars, though as a share of national wealth defence spending is still relatively low in historical terms (see chart).
美国国防部长罗伯特•盖茨也承认,奥巴马政府提出的7080亿美元的下一年度国防预算是一个“天文数字”。五角大楼成功地躲过了这场政府刮起的冻结支出的旋风。从伊拉克撤出部队省下的钱全都被增兵阿富汗的行动花光了。因此，美国的国防预算将要超过朝鲜战争和越南战争期间的支出。但以占国民经济总收入的百分比计算，这一预算还是各历史时期中相对较低的。（见图表）
For Mr Gates the 2011 budget request, and the new quadrennial defence review (QDR) issued on the same day, are meant to consolidate the changes he has been promoting: giving priority to fighting today’s wars over buying equipment for tomorrow’s possible conflicts. The Obama administration’s first QDR is more evolution than revolution. That was to be expected, given that Mr Gates was kept on from the administration of George Bush.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/
对盖茨先生来说，2011年的国防预算草案以及同日发布的新一期《四年防务评估报告》（QDR）都意味着进一步巩固了他一直在推动的预算改革：防务支出要优先用于目前正在进行的战争行动，为今后可能的冲突购买装备的支出要排在第二位。奥玛巴当局的第一期QDR并未彻底推翻前一期的《四年防务评估报告》，而是在它的基础上进行了一些修正。考虑到盖茨先生是乔治•布什政府留任的国防部长，这样的政策是可以预料到的。
Mr Gates’s tenure at the Pentagon is notable for two features: his willingness to kill off expensive projects, and his ruthlessness in punishing failure. Last year Mr Gates halted projects such as the new presidential helicopter and capped production of the air force’s top-of-the-line F-22 fighter—saving, he says, $330 billion. He has also fired, among others, the secretaries of the army and of the air force.
这位五角大楼的大老板以下列两个特点而闻名：他毫不犹豫地取缔耗资过大的项目；毫不手软地惩处犯有过失者。去年，他就下令终止了制造新的总统专用直升机，削减了空军最尖端的F-22战斗机的产量，据他说，此举能节省3300亿美元。他还解除了包括陆军参谋长和空军参谋长在内的一批高级将领的职务。
His latest cull is less dramatic. He wants to cancel the navy’s new cruiser and halt plans to replace its EP-3 intelligence aircraft. He seeks to cap production of the C-17 aircraft and kill off plans for an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—and if Congress attempts to preserve these two projects, Mr Gates said, he will ask Mr Obama to veto the budget.
相比之下，他最近的消减项目行动就不那么引人注目了。他下令取消美国海军新型巡洋舰的研制，终止EP-3电子侦察机的更新换代计划。他目前正积极推动减少C-17运输机的生产数量，取消为F-35联合攻击战斗机更换发动机的计划。盖茨威胁说，如果国会试图保留这两个项目，他就会要求奥巴马总统否决预算。
But is the defence budget on target?
国防预算也会成为攻击的目标吗？
The idea is to free up money for, among other things, more drones (see picture) and helicopters. Electronic warfare and cybersecurity would also be beefed up. With other countries, notably China, finding new ways to sink ships and shoot down planes and satellites, the QDR considers a new generation of long-range weapons such as unmanned bombers launched from aircraft carriers and long-range cruise missiles fired from submarines.
这样做的目的是要挤出钱来用于采购更多的无人机（见图）和直升机以及其它用途。电子战和网络安全也需要更多的资金投入。由于其它国家（显然是指中国）正在研制新型防空、反舰、反卫星武器，这份《四年防务评估报告》要求研制新一代远程武器系统，如从航空母舰上起飞的无人驾驶轰炸机、潜艇上发射的远程巡航导弹等。
The F-35 is supposed to become the backbone of American air power, but its costs have been rising. So Mr Gates announced he would replace the Pentagon’s manager in charge of the programme, Major-General David Heinz, a two-star general, with a three-star officer. He said he would also dock $614m in performance fees for the contractor, Lockheed Martin.
F-35战机将成为美国空军的主要机种，但其所需费用在不断增加。因此盖茨宣布他将用一名三星中将取代现在的二星少将大卫•希内茨成为五角大楼负责该项目的主任。盖茨说，还将削减该项目承包商的奖金。这个项目的承包商是洛克希德•马丁公司。
The review seeks to break with the old requirement that America should be able to fight two major wars at the same time. Mr Gates said America has already been fighting big conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but had to “prepare for a much broader range of security challenges on the horizon”. What practical changes this entails is not yet clear. The 2006 QDR already foresaw that America had to deal with a range of crises, and Mr Gates’s review only tinkers with America’s military structure.
以往要求美国具有同时进行两场大规模战争的能力，而这份《四年防务评估报告》要打破这一战略。盖茨指出，美国已经是在伊拉克与阿富汗进行着两场大规模战争，而且必须“在更加宽广的战线上迎接即将出现的（对美国）安全的挑战”。这将导致什么样的具体变化尚不明了。2006年版的QDR已经预见到美国必须应付一系列的危机，而盖茨先生的此份报告不过是对美国的军事结构进行了一些拙劣的修补。
The QDR foresees a world in which political, economic and military power is “more diffuse”. With the rise of China and India, America “will remain the most powerful actor but must increasingly work with key allies and partners”. Yet for now, Mr Gates reckons the most immediate factor affecting America’s future security is whether it wins or loses today’s wars.
这份QDR预见，今后的世界里政治、经济与军事实力将更加分散。伴随着中国与印度的崛起，美国“依然能够是世界上最强大的国家，在世界事务中发挥最主要的作用，但必须不断增加重要盟国与合作伙伴的协同”。然而眼下，盖茨认为影响美国今后安全最紧迫的是能否打赢目前正在进行的战争。
附注：dodge the bullet
If someone has dodged a bullet, they have successfully avoided a very serious problem.

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