U.S. ANNOUNCES $7.7 BILLION IN DEFENSE CUTS

The Pentagon today announced cuts in weapons purchases and delays in the military's modernization programs -- cost-cutting that amounts to savings of $7.7 billion. Defense Secretary William Perry today said $200 million will be trimmed from the Air Force's F-22 fighter budget, forcing a delay in the aircraft's production, while work on the Comanche stealth helicopter has been downgraded to a prototype program, saving $2 billion. The $2.1 billion TSSAM attack missile has been cancelled entirely and the Navy's new submarine will be also be delayed by a year. TIME Defense correspondent Mark Thompson warns though that today's proposed cuts won't be enough to eliminate the Pentagon's shortfall -- estimated to be as great as $150 billion. "The cuts were a lot smaller than people feared, because Clinton pumped in that $25 billion last week, but it doesn't solve the problem of their being too many Pentagon projects in the future and not enough money," Thompson says. BTW: Thompson says the Marines got some good news: they'll receive 500 V-22 tilt-rotor helicopters to replace the 20-year-old CH-46 choppers currently in use.