According to the US Army’s Stars and Stripes, a well-known conservative think tank in Washington stated in its annual report that although the US military expenditure is more than the total of the next 10 countries, the US armed forces are only “just Pass”.
The Heritage Foundation recently released an annual global threat and US military power index, which pointed out the weaknesses of the US military, especially the Army and Navy.
Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry (Mac Thornberry), the minority leader of the House Armed Services Committee, said at the report conference: “For me, the most fundamental point is that we have not reached the level we should be.”
USS George H.W. Bush
According to the report, this annual index scored a five-point scale from “very weak” to “very strong” based on the ability of these military departments to simultaneously deal with the conflicts in the two major regions. The U.S. Army and Navy score very low on capabilities.
According to the report, the U.S. Army has approximately 480,000 active soldiers, but progress is too slow in achieving the goal of 500,000. At the current rate, this goal will not be reached until 2034.
The report pointed out that the strength of the US Army is far from reaching 50 combat brigades, which will be necessary to “respond to major simultaneous conflicts.” The US Army currently has 31 active brigades and 4 reserve brigades.
The report declared that “most outside experts believe that the size of the US military is too small.” However, although the overall rating of the US Army is very low, it performs better in terms of ability and combat readiness, being rated as “pass” and “very strong” respectively.
Similarly, the U.S. Navy was rated as “pass”, but tended to be a “weak” grade. The report concluded that, like the Army, the Navy lacks manpower.
According to the evaluation of this index, at least 400 combat ships are needed to meet the requirements of the navy. The U.S. Navy currently has only 300 ships. In terms of capabilities and combat readiness, the navy does not score high, and tends to be “weak”.
The Air Force and Marine Corps are in the “pass” overall score in this index.
According to the report, the Heritage Foundation has long been dissatisfied with the U.S. Congress comparing U.S. military expenditures with defense expenditures of other countries.
It believes that the U.S. global military deployment, the growth of opponents’ military expenditures, and the cost of preventing collateral damage all require the United States to increase military expenditures. .
