A pleasure to highlight China’s actual military spending and its outsized investments in combat power—dwarfing those of its Indo-Pacific neighbors.
Mackenzie Eaglen
4,227 posts
Mackenzie Eaglen
@MEaglen
Senior fellow for natsec @AEI
Co-Chair Future of @USNavy Commission
Frmr @US_AWC Board of Visitors & @USArmy Science Board
@MasonNatSec & @hamiltonsoc
- Beijing's military budget $$$ is *much* larger than the Chinese Communist Party reports publicly.
- China not only spends about what the United States does per annum on its military, Beijing outspends America’s allies in Asia on defense by 5:1 — increasingly tipping the scales away from freedom & stability.
- Did you know the Predator drone was initially an "earmark" in Congress--forced on the Pentagon? Tomahawk missile, a "weapon of choice" for military commanders, wouldn't be in production today if not for Congress. Same with small sats, commercial data analytics, or the SLCM-N.
- Top Pentagon intelligence official testified yesterday that China currently has 16 mega "Manhattan-style" projects underway. (The U.S. = 0) Global share of R&D spending from 2000 - 2015: United States dropped 11% China increased 21%
- America’s spy agencies said China’s military budget is actually ~$700B, far higher than Beijing claims. Factor in lower labor costs, mil-civ “fusion,” PPP, much hard power classified as non-military, & no need to fight an away game, it’s even higher ↗️
- Chinese shipyards have the capacity to build surface ships & submarines 232 times greater than America (in terms of gross tonnage). Source: US Navy
Ron O’Rourke’s Latest @CRS4Congress Report—“#China #Naval Modernization: Implications for @USNavy Capabilities” bit.ly/_CRS23 USG/N Info on PLAN Ships & Projections of #s Lead thru 2040! Many citations to @NavalWarCollege/@ChinaMaritime pubs, including from our - US Navy shipbuilding is entering its version of the "doom loop" with a budget for today that shrinks the fleet further *and* cuts new ship investments for tomorrow--ensuring there are no plans for recovery to grow the fleet again anytime soon ⚠️
- It's time for a gut check on Washington's growing preference to instinctively reach for the U.S. military as the preferred tool to address problems outside its core missions.
- It is simply unsustainable to remain a global power with global reach at this pace of operations with an ever-shrinking Navy.
- Horrible change of precedent for executive authority and the interpretation of “emergency.” 🚨The pilfering of funds from other legislatively-approved priorities is simply an end run around Congress and checks and balances. 🚨 And It will ultimately degrade military readiness 🚨FYI: AEI analysts @MEaglen and @bergerrichard weighed in earlier this week in the WSJ...and said DON'T:
- Operation “Midnight Hammer” showcased a sad fact: America’s B-2 bomber fleet is large enough for a raid. Not a battle, and certainly not a war.
- Violence & killing in the name of the state should be left to those sworn to defend it and the Constitution. usatoday.com/story/news/wor…
- Worried about still-small-but-growing ethical rot atop the US military flag/general officer ranks. This is not limited to sex abuse/assault, but more a growing culture of entitlement, accoutrements, abuse of power, lack of accountability, toxic leadership & disdain for oversight
