Ten Things To Know About The Coming Defense Cuts

If you haven't been paying attention, this is where we stand on the Pentagon budget battle:
1. The Pentagon has already agreed to cut $450 billion over the coming decade from the roughly $7 trillion it had planned on getting. "These cuts are difficult and will require us to take some risks, but they are manageable," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wrote lawmakers this week. Likely targets are military health care and retirement accounts, cuts in the number of troops on active duty, and a reduction in the Pentagon's planned $350 billion buy of more than 2,400 F-35 fighters.


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