The strategic American military system for moving troops, weapons, and supplies over long distances has decayed significantly and needs rapid upgrading to be ready for any future war with China or Russia, according to a report by the Pentagon's Defense Science Board.
A special task force on survivable logistics evaluated the military's current airlift, sealift, and prepositioned equipment and supplies and found major problems with supporting forces during a "high-end" conflict.
Even the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while requiring a large logistics effort, didn't prepare our forces for the attrition and high rates of expenditure of ammunition and spare parts--and replacement of losses, all while under fire and losing some percentage of the supplies moved forward--that a conventional war would require.
And our ammunition shortage existed even before America shifted emphasis to great power competition.
My hope is that our enemies are worse off.
Also, if our supply capacity is deficient, that causes problems for our allies who need resupply from our stockpiles--and for our policy of keeping allies on a short leash.
