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That’s the assessment given in the annual US Military Force Index report released recently by the Heritage Foundation, according to the website. Military.com.
“With the current situation, the United States military can only satisfy the need to protect essential national interests,” the policy research institute report said.
The strength of the US military is assessed at 5 levels, including “very weak,” “weak,” “relatively,” “strong,” and “very strong.” In which, the army, air force and marines are considered to have “relative” strength while the navy is considered “weak”.
Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dakota Wood, principal investigator for the Heritage Foundation, said the assessment is based on the number of ships, the age of the ships and the time it takes to build new ships.
The United States Navy currently has about 300 ships, but more than half of them are over 20 years old. Out of 300 ships, only 100 are ready for service every day. Of those 100, only about 60 were deployed in the western Pacific. Wood said this number is very small compared to the rapidly growing fleet of 350 and China.
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The Heritage Foundation believes that the US military can only face one great opponent, but cannot take on two great opponents at the same time. Wood said the US military currently has only 2/3 of the strength needed to take on two opponents at the same time.
To solve this problem, Wood said an increase in the defense budget is needed, even though the Pentagon’s current budget is $ 740 billion.
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