Pentagon Review Means Big Cutbacks

The Pentagon’s most sweeping strategic review since the end of the Cold War will almost certainly result in a cut in U.S. troop strength, especially in the Army, and a reduction in the Air Force and Navy budgets for high-technology jet fighters, Pentagon and congressional officials said Monday.

Officials involved in preparing the Quadrennial Defense Review the Army may be asked to reduce its roster of 495,000 active-duty troops by as many 50,000, a cut that Army commanders describe as disastrous.

The cuts in troop strength would help pay for the new fighters that remain in the budget, as well as a new generation of battlefield equipment like computerized artillery systems and biological-weapons detectors.