The United States’ military is “weak” and might not be able to defend itself as it faces rising global threats from Russia and China, according to a report from a US think tank.
And a senior researcher of the report said that the British Navy is down to a "mere 17 or 18 surface combatants total", which is "nearly" the equivalent to the number the Chinese are adding to its fleet each year.
A new arms race has seen international powers build up their military capabilities with regular parading of new technology and at the same time tensions have risen.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the threat of a nuclear war to the highest level since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and friction continues between the US and China especially over the sovereignty of Taiwan.
And now a new report states that the US military has been growing increasingly weaker and is at risk of not being able to defend its national interests.
The conservative Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of the US Military Strength marked the state of the country at its lowest point in the nine-years it has been doing the rankings.
It has blamed underfunding for the country being weakened.
“The current US military force is at significant risk of not being able to meet the demands of a single major regional conflict,” the report said.
Adding it "would probably not be able to do more and is certainly ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous" conflicts.
The Heritage Foundation looked individually at each area of the US military with the Marine Corps coming out best with a "strong" rating while worst positioned was the Air Force which was put as "very weak".
Looking at the US' nuclear capabilities compared to other countries it was given a "strong".
The Navy was described as "weak" by the think tank which said to fight in two wars it would need about 400 ships. It is reported to have 292 currently, which is around half of the number it had in the Cold War.
Heritage senior defence researcher Dakota Wood said that at the same time the US navy operations have grown.
“You’re working your ships twice as hard, the crews twice as hard, maintenance problems mount, so when it finally gets into the yard (for repairs), there’s more work that has to be done than was anticipated,” Wood said, reported the New York Post.
He also analysed the strength of the British Navy.
“The British Royal Navy … is down to a mere 17 or 18 surface combatants total. China’s adding almost the equivalent of the British Royal Navy to its own fleet almost every year, certainly every two years,” he reportedly said.
The Chinese navy already has 355 ships and plans to add about 65 more by 2026, according to the Pentagon’s annual China military report.
A Royal Navy spokesperson said: "The Royal Navy continues to deliver against all our commitments with new ships, aircraft and submarines joining the current fleet. These are crewed and supported by highly trained personnel. Our commitment to exciting future projects will continue to assure our position as a First-Class Navy, embracing cutting edge technology and innovation."
