US military says it is overwhelmed by foreign threats

 DC Daily Journal:

...

The United States military is already overwhelmed by reacting to foreign threats and isn’t strong enough to handle the most critical risks to American national security, according to research from the Heritage Foundation that was issued on Wednesday.

A report card for the U.S. military’s progress in relation to the global operating environment and adversaries’ capabilities, the 2024 Index of U.S. Military Strength, was rated as “weak” overall, according to editor and retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dakota Wood. U.S. military shortcomings, including insufficient ammunition and weapon stocks and the capacity to respond to the president’s request to intervene in multiple crises at once, were brought to light in 2023 by the wars in Ukraine and Israel, as well as by the U.S. reaction to conflict exploding across the Middle East.

In its current form, the United States military poses a grave threat to the nation’s ability to protect its most important interests, according to the index’s introduction. The United States military was rated as “weak” for the second year running, meaning it lacks the necessary force to protect national interests abroad against real threats in the world, not the one we imagine.

Wood, a senior research fellow for defense programs at Heritage, said during a briefing prior to the report’s official release that the United States military as a whole, including its nuclear and missile defense capabilities, is too outdated, inadequate, and unprepared.

The gradual weakening of the United States military was attributed by Heritage to the following factors: funding mismanagement, a lack of discipline in the development and procurement of weapons systems, and the Pentagon’s choice to maintain personnel deployed for longer than anticipated.

Wood clarified that the assertion that the United States military is weak does not constitute an accusation against the persons serving in the military. “If you had to go up against Russia or China or Iran or some other actor in the world, you’re just not going to have a sufficient amount of military power to go out.”

The overall assessment remains unchanged from last year, however, the United States nuclear forces were downgraded from 2023 to 2024.

The Air Force was deemed “extremely weak,” the Navy “weak,” and the Army “marginal,” according to Heritage. Only the Marine Corps emerged unscathed, owing to its massive modernization initiatives aimed at a worst-case scenario conflict with China, as stated by Wood. However, the Corps is still too small to complete the objectives assigned to it by the Pentagon last year.

The Air Force was rated as the most inadequate branch, earning a “very weak” grade. According to the report, the country is so overwhelmed with its pilot shortage that it only has 75% of the fighter planes ready to go that might be used for two big battles at once. Not only that, pilots aren’t receiving nearly enough flight time — an average of fewer than 130 hours a year — which, according to what Wood told the DCNF, would have made them useless in combat during the Cold War.

The analysis made it clear that no fighter squadron in the Air Force had the necessary preparedness, ability, and confidence to compete with peer squadrons.

The Space Force, which is still in its early stages, was given a “marginal” rating due to its inexperience, outdated equipment, and staff.Wood informed the media reporters that the United States’ nuclear forces are “ancient,” and that the replacement of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were in use throughout the Cold War, has run into monetary problems, necessitating involvement from the secretary of defense in order to prevent their termination.
...

There is no indication that the Biden administration has a plan for fixing this problem.  The Navy is so short-handed that it can't supply enough sailors to man two of its warships.  The Air Force also does not have enough pilots.