Training for high-intensity multi-domain warfare is certainly necessary in an environment of a rising China and a writhing Russia. But logistics for a long war is a weak spot.
Fights against jihadis or any insurgents are low-intensity fights that regular production can handle. Although even that level of sustained fighting strained our capacity for bombs, if you recall.
Will there be the money to fix this problem when it doesn't add to the shiny things that are usually measured for military power?
Today, one of the most concerning questions facing the U.S. Department of Defense is a crisis in readiness when measured against the near-term threat of China, which is already on a de facto industrial war footing.
The lack of spare parts, in particular, has created this crisis in readiness. And a key driver for the scarcity of components and parts is that many are sole-sourced.
This is an issue for U.S. combat readiness, surge capacity and the ability to remain in a protracted, high-intensity fight.
The only good news is that we are usually better off than other countries. But our allies are included in this category of those who don't have enough ammunition to fight for long. They require American resupply pretty quickly. Which is a feature and not a bug.
Fixing this logistics problem from the factories to the battlefield should take priority over expanding our weapons systems holdings.
