国际英语新闻：Obama announces 548.9-billion-dollar defense budget for fiscal year 2011

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Monday a 548.9-billion-U.S.-dollar defense budget bill in fiscal year 2011, a 3.4 percent increase over the 2010 enacted level.

"This funding increase allows Department of Defense to address its highest priorities, such as the President's commitment to reform defense acquisition, develop a ballistic missile defense system that addresses modern threats, and continue to provide high quality healthcare to wounded service members," said the budget.

The new budget, which was sent to Congress on Monday for its approval, includes a total of 159.3 billion dollars for war spending in fiscal year 2011, starting from Oct. 1, 2010 through Sept. 30, 2011.

Obama also requested an extra 33-billion-dollar war funding for fiscal year 2010 on top of the 129.6 billion dollars already provided, mainly to finance his new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The president announced in December a 30,000-troop buildup in Afghanistan, which will bring the total number of U.S. forces there to almost 100,000 by 2011.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the 2011 budget at the Capitol Hill in Washington Feb. 1, 2010.

The defense budget will also provide capital for the government 's reconfigured ballistic missile defense strategy, called the Phased Adaptive Approach.

"It will feature incremental deployments of increasingly capable sea- and land-based missile interceptors and a range of sensors in Europe to defend against growing ballistic missile dangers," said the bill.

To enrich its ammunition, the budget listed a series of advanced weapons the government prepares to acquire, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a new family of ground vehicles, new ships such as the next generation ballistic missile submarine, and the P-8 aircraft.