US military is 'weak' according to damning new assessment

The Heritage Foundation released its annual assessment of U.S. military strength this week, and the results are damning. The "2024 Index of U.S. Military Strength" indicates the country's overall military posture "must be rated 'weak.'"

"This is the inevitable result of years of prolonged deployments, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged," said the assessment.

The first and only other time the military has received a "weak" rating was last year.

While this weakness has been years in the making, significant American strength has been sapped in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Hamas' terror attacks on Israel.

For its assessment, Heritage measured American military power in terms of its capacity for operations, its capability for modernity, and its readiness to handle assigned missions. Scrutineers also factored in the capabilities and behavior of America's adversaries; existing alliances; regional political stability; the condition of key infrastructure; and the presence of U.S. forces.

Heritage rated the Air Force's capacity and capability "marginal," while noting its readiness was "very weak."

To manage more than a single major conflict, the assessment suggested the Air Force would need 1,200 active-duty, combat-coded fighter aircraft. Presently, the branch reportedly only has 897 at the ready and 64% of what would otherwise be an optimal inventory of bombers.

The Government Accountability Office published a "Weapon System Sustainment" report in late 2022 revealing that only a handful of Air Force aircraft associated with American air superiority "met their annual mission capable goal" in a majority of the years from 2011 through 2021.

In addition to a questionable fleet, the assessment indicated there is a shortage of pilots.

"There is not a fighter squadron in the Air Force that holds the readiness levels, competence, and confidence levels required to square off against a peer competitor, and readiness continues to spiral downward," said the report.

The Army alternatively had a readiness rating of "very strong" but was rated "weak" on capacity and "marginal" on capability. It is supposedly aging faster than it can modernize and continuing to struggle with recruitment.

The Navy was rated "very weak" on capacity, "marginal" on capability," and "weak" on readiness. It reportedly needs a battle force of 400 manned ships to satisfy expectations, but in actuality only floats a battle force fleet of 297 ships. Making matters worse, its former technological edge has been blunted both by age and by advances made by competitors such as China and Russia.

Space Force received a "marginal" rating across the board.

America's nuclear capability, treated separately, received an overall "marginal" rating.

While the Marine Corps received an overall rating of "strong," Heritage indicated it remains a "one-war force" on account of its capacity, adding that its strength would not be enough the compensate for the other branches.

The report concluded that the currently military faces the real risk of being incapable of meeting the "demands of a single major regional conflict while also attending to various presence and engagement activities."

These findings are especially troubling in light of the various threats to U.S. vital interests also highlighted in the report.

Heritage indicated that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and various non-state actors all pose high risks to vital U.S. interests. China and Russia in particular can make apparently make good on their threats whereas Iran and North Korea are still gathering capabilities.

Heritage echoed the Pentagon's understanding that China presents the U.S. with "its most comprehensive and daunting national security challenge across all three areas of vital American national interests: the homeland; regional war ... and international common spaces."

Blaze News previously reported that Gen. Mike Minihan, head of the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, predicted war with China in 2025.

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall similarly suggested in September that war with China could soon occur, especially if "our power projection capability and capacity are not adequate to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan or elsewhere. ... If it does, and we cannot prevail, the results could cast a long shadow."

The Heritage Foundation's Rob Greenway and Dakota Wood said in a statement Wednesday, "Faced with mounting threats and a new Cold War with China, our weakened military amplifies global dangers. Yet, the chance to restore American military might remains—if we heed the urgency and act decisively."

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