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Cuts to defense spending in the debt reduction bill could total nearly $1 trillion over 10 years -- more than double what President Obama had proposed earlier this year -- and sap American military might worldwide, say analysts and members of Congress.

The prospect of $600 billion in additional defense cuts over the next decade is enough to make Pentagon generals wince and to compel the U.S. military to make big changes to its global strategy. But the cuts can be made without gutting the current force, defense budget analysts said.The larger and more painful cuts of an additional $600 billion would be triggered only if Republicans and Democrats cannot come to an agreement on a second round of spending cuts in the next four months.

Next year’s military cuts are more substantial, if lawmakers look at a different number: $553 billion, the amount Mr. Obama requested from Congress for the Pentagon in the budget for the 2012 fiscal year. Congress has not passed that budget, and at least one Congressional committee has already reduced the White House request.

The deal to avert a US debt default should have little effect on the Pentagon's huge budget in the short term, but leaves the door open to sharp cuts that could force a strategy overhaul, experts say/…/ But experts say fresh deficit reduction efforts carried out under the new legislation could impose even more drastic cuts on the Pentagon, forcing the Defense Department to make some tough choices.

Todd Harrison, a budget expert at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, delved into the details Aug. 1 as the two chambers began considering the late-weekend deal. If the cap on security spending in fiscal 2012 proposed by the bill before Congress were applied proportionately, the Pentagon could face a $37 billion cut relative to the president’s $553 billion baseline request, Harrison says. That would bring the new allocation to $516 billion — or $14 billion less than the level provided by the House in its defense spending bill for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

As the Pentagon plans for U.S. forces to exit Iraq and Afghanistan, it is keeping one eye trained on the rising threat in the East. For two decades China has been adding large numbers of warships, submarines, fighter jets and — more significantly — developing offensive missiles capable of knocking out U.S. stealth aircraft and the biggest U.S. naval ships including aircraft carriers/…/China says it is simply developing defensive weapons and protecting its interests. But military analysts say the United States appears to be taking a different view, citing the Pentagon's development of a new class of bombers that can fly for long periods outside of the reach of radar.