The Pentagon should be pushing “bold new moves” to protect the country’s interests instead of its perilous new plan to reduce troops dramatically and slash spending, a Heritage Foundation expert says.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the new strategy today, calling for greater U.S. military presence in Asia, pulling troops from Europe, and cutting spending by nearly half a trillion dollars.

The Heritage Foundation’s James Jay Carafano writes that the new strategy amounts to pulling “the safety net out from a global security architecture that has protected U.S. vital interests worldwide since 1945.”

“The Obama Administration’s strategy by wishful thinking will not be sufficient to keep the nation safe, free, and prosperous in the year ahead. Rather, Congress and the White House should be making bold moves to restore America’s capacity to protect itself,” Carafano writes on the foundation’s website.

The Pentagon should invest in more combat planes and stealth fighters, ramp up production of Navy vessels, and put the missile defense program on the fast track, Carafano maintains.

He also insisted that it was a mistake for the Pentagon to reduce ground forces.

“Shedding the most qualified, combat-experienced, volunteer ground forces in the nation’s history would be like Apple canceling the production of iPhones to save money. It makes no sense,” he wrote.