From Fox News: “The U.S. struggle with China is the single greatest competition the United States has ever faced,” defense analyst Seth Jones writes in his new book “The American Edge.”
And in an interview with Fox News Digital, Jones warned that if war broke out over Taiwan, the United States could burn through key long-range missiles “after roughly a week or so of conflict” — a shortfall he says exposes how far behind the U.S. industrial base remains as Beijing moves onto what he calls a wartime footing.
Jones is a former Pentagon official and president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He argues the United States isn’t dealing with a superpower like the Soviet Union, whose system was brittle and economically isolated. China’s economy, he noted, is roughly the size of the U.S. and deeply tied into global production. That economic weight is fueling a military buildup across every major domain, from fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft to an enormous shipbuilding sector he describes as “upwards of 230 times the size of the United States.” The effect, he said, is unmistakable. “The gap is shrinking.”
“When you look at the numbers right now of those long-range munitions, we still right now would run out after roughly a week or so of conflict over Taiwan,” he said. “That’s just not enough to sustain a protracted war.”
He says that the United States must rediscover the industrial urgency that once allowed it to surge output in wartime.
“As a percentage of gross domestic product, [defense spending] is about three percent,” he said. “It’s lower than at any time during the Cold War. I think we need to start getting closer to those numbers and increase the amount of that budget that goes into procurement and acquisition.”
The Trump administration is pushing the Pentagon to accelerate development of drones, munitions, and maritime capabilities. The Army, Air Force, and Navy have launched rapid-acquisition programs to expedite system fielding and support smaller companies.
Read more at Fox News
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