（美 联 社18日新 闻，译文转自美 国中文 媒 体节选）
美国陆军发 言 人18日表示，陆军准备终止1600亿元的陆军作战现代化计划，放弃原来只为15个作战旅配备重型武器的构想，改成为全部73个战斗旅配备作战机器人、精准飞弹和监控装置等高科技作战武器。这一决定显示，过去10年陆军执行的重点武器升级计画已经叫停。
陆军曾准备为15个旅的作战部队全面配备重型战车、巨炮等重型武器，搭配高科技武器，期望在战场上具有优势打击能力。军方改变策略后，准备为所有战斗旅配备未来作战系统（Future Combat Systems）的高科技武器。
但国 防部 长盖兹上月建议，武器计画中应削减870亿元的地面战车和巨型火炮开支，他认为，对陆军目前在阿富汗和伊拉克执行打击反叛力量的战斗目标而言，这些战车和火炮不适合作战需要。
但国 会审 计调 查 处等部门认为，陆军的某些高科技武器尚未经过实战检验。
陆军将逐步把未来作战系统推广到全部的73个作战旅。负责新计画的发 言人梅尼说，未来作战系统计画的更改，将在今后几周的武器采购计画中详细说明。
陆军还准备开发新型地面战车，以取代盖兹部长认为应取消的战车。新型战车的设计将能更有效地打击反叛力量，包括对路边炸弹的防护能力更强。
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以上是新 闻节选，全文如下：
The Army plans to break up its $160 billion modernization plan and
will give the high-tech fighting tools to all its combat brigades
instead of just a handful as originally planned, a spokesman for the
service said Monday.
The decision to field the robots, precision missiles and
surveillance tools across the Army's force essentially dissolves what
has been one of the service's top weapons programs for the past 10
years, and a target of criticism over whether it was affordable and
would work.
The Army had envisioned a force of 15 brigades that combined gadgetry
with heavy firepower that could dominate battles through military
muscle and advanced technology. The service planned to field the Future
Combat Systems brigades with all the equipment.
But Defense Secretary Robert Gates
last month proposed stripping $87 billion worth of ground vehicles and
a giant cannon from the program, saying they didn't fit with the Army's
current fights against insurgencies in places like Afghanistan and
Iraq. Critics, including the Government Accountability Office, also
have argued that some of the technology was untested, a claim the Army
vigorously disputed.
Instead of fielding just the 15
brigades, the Army will gradually introduce the Future Combat Systems
tools to all of its 73 existing brigades, said Paul Mehney, a spokesman
for the program. The new approach is a "more holistic modernization
effort," he said.
The change will be outlined in an acquisition decision memo in the next few weeks, he added.
The Army already has said it plans to develop a new ground vehicle to
replace those that would be canceled under Gates' proposal. The new
vehicles are expected to be better designed for fighting insurgents,
and will include more protection against road side bombs.
Boeing Co. and SAIC Inc. are the lead
contractors on the Future Combat Systems program, which includes work
by most of the nation's major defense contractors.
In a joint statement, the companies
said the Army's decision to spin out Future Combat Systems tools to all
of its brigades "represents a vote of confidence in both the
technological maturity of the program and the role we have played in
that effort."
The acquisition decision will provide
more detail on the contractors' role under the new plan, said Boeing
spokesman Matthew Billingsley.
Defense analyst James McAleese said
the Army likely will keep Boeing and SAIC for work on the overall
network, but it's unclear whether the two will be part of the new
combat vehicle program.
"They are going to have to hustle to demonstrate their need to the rest of the program," McAleese said.
Future Combat Systems had included 14 different weapons systems and an
overarching information network to weave them together.
Unmanned vehicles would help spot
foes and hunt road side bombs. Giant cannons and precision missiles
were designed to hit targets from miles away. New armored vehicles
would ferry soldiers into combat and shepherd them out if they were
injured. Satellites would help commanders collect the information they
need to make decisions in battle.
But with so many different
components, critics said the Army was rushing to cobble together its
plan without making sure the technology worked or fulfilled its
mission. In March, the GAO said the cost of the program likely would
grow, and recommended that Congress not approve full funding until the
Army better justified its costs and capabilities.
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