February 18, 1983

Congress can cut military spending, as a chorus of voices is asking, but it has few tools to reduce the constantly growing costs of buying and operating a military force and that may be the only way to achieve real control of the Defense Department budget. This is only one of several gloomy assessments that analysts in and out of Congress are making as initial hearings on the military budget begin in Senate and House committees. Complex, seemingly paradoxical, problems in reducing the military problems in reducing the military budget arise most acutely in the category of buying weapons and equipment. of President Reagan's military budget request for the fiscal year 1984, the largest single share of military spending. Long-range plans will raise that share to 39 percent by 1988. It has become customary to note that, whatever the members of Congress say about the Defense Department's budget total, they seldom support cancellations or major reductions in particular programs that create jobs and income in their home areas.

Governor Cuomo yesterday ordered the state not to approve emergency evacuation plans for the area around the Shoreham nuclear power plant in Suffolk County. State officials said that without such a plan, the Long Island Lighting Company's $3.2 billion plant, which is near completion, would be unable to go into operation. ''The action right now stops Shoreham,'' Michael J. Del Guidice, the secretary to the Governor, said of the order. In Washington, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will make the final decision on whether the plant can operate, said of the effect of Mr. Cuomo's action: ''It's not clear. The N.R.C. would have to look at the situation.''

Senator Bob Dole, chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, said today that Congress should pass selective tax increases this year, particularly for commercial banks and thrift institutions and possibly for insurance companies. The Senator's remarks pointed to the possibility of enactment of an omnibus tax bill this year, although Mr. Dole aides said it was too early to be certain. Mr. Dole reiterated his position that Congress should not undo the individual tax cuts enacted in 1981, especially the 10 percent reduction scheduled for July 1, 1983. The Kansas Republican said, as he has before, that if Congress adopted a budget resolution for 1984 that called for raising additional tax revenue, ''we have a responsibility to do that.''

Kenneth L. Adelman, President Reagan's choice to be the nation's chief arms control official, said today that he would fight to win confirmation in the Senate, where his nomination has been under criticism. Mr. Adelman's remarks, combined with President Reagan's insistence that the Senate accept him as the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, set the stage for a confrontation between the White House and Capitol Hill and raised the prospect of what one Republican Senator described as a ''debilitating, demeaning experience.'' New Choice Is Urged The Senate Foreign Relations Committee put off a vote on the confirmation of Mr. Adelman, the deputy United States delegate to the United Nations, after it became apparent Wednesday morning that his nomination would fail to win the committee's endorsement. As Administration officials redoubled their efforts today to win support for Mr. Adelman, senators of both parties acknowledged that Mr. Reagan might prevail in a floor battle but nonetheless renewed their pleas that he make a new selection to direct the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Reagan Administration officials said today that Awacs surveillance planes had been sent to Egypt because of concern over possible Libyan military moves against the Sudan. They said they expected the planes to remain only a few days unless Libya launched an attack. In a press briefing at the White House, a senior Administration official, who refused to be mentioned by name, sought to play down the situation in the Mediterranean. But other officials said the four planes had been sent to Egypt because of heightened concern in Washington, Cairo and Khartoum over reports indicating a possible Libyan attack on the Sudan. The senior Administration official said the decision to send the four Awacs, loaded with electronic surveillance and communications gear, was made late last week by American officials in consultation with the Egyptians. He refused to provide details on why they were sent to Egypt, except to say the move was linked to Libyan behavior. Another official said the request for the Awacs came from President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.