I have one more point to make about President Biden’s budget. I’m not as enthusiastic about a nearly 10% increase in our military spending as the editors of Bloomberg are. IMO the issue is less how much is spent than what the priorities are. I think we need to spend less on our offensive warmaking capabilities and more on actual defense. The purpose of the army is to take and hold territory. In part the purpose of the air force is to support the army. Should the air force be a distinct branch?
Basically, I think we should spend more on our navy, our cyberwarfare capabilities, and revitalizing our nuclear deterrent but less on tanks, artillery, “boots on the ground”, and bombers. Whether that translates into spending more, less, or the same I have no idea.
I agree that a larger navy is needed. However, the Chinese threat is somewhat overstated, at least for the near future. While they have more ships than we do, their ships are on average smaller, and the total Chinese tonnage is something like half ours. Of course, their navy is designed primary for coastal (out to 1,000 miles) defense, and ours is a global mission.
Lurking just off stage is the recruiting problem. Da Tech Guy yesterday quoted some statistics for the various service branches, here:
https://datechguyblog.blog/2022/04/02/military-recruiting-cracks-are-showing/
Evidently we are looking at about a 10 to 15% reduction in servicemen across the the four combat branches. And the Navy is especially hard hit.
Some of the problem is the physical and mental decline of 18 year-olds. However, there is also a general and ongoing loss of confidence in the military. And the possibility of real combat must affect some people.
I agree and for a reason that is rarely if ever mentioned. Chinese operational doctrine is almost completely untested in living memory. While it may be completely workable and effective, there’s no way to know. That may be some of what’s going on in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Second Chechen War was almost 25 years ago. It’s not the same Russian Army now as it was then.