New Report Ranks U.S. Military Branches from Strong to Weak. The Results Aren't Great.
The Heritage Foundation has released its annual report on U.S. military power.
The report says the might of the U.S. military is only “marginally” capable of defending America’s national interests.
The report runs counter to President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he has “totally rebuilt” the armed forces.
The Heritage Foundation think tank has released its annual report on U.S. military power. The report examines each of the armed forces (excluding the brand new Space Force), ranking their capacity, capability, and readiness. The result is a picture of a military that has neither fallen apart, nor been “totally rebuilt,” in the words of President Trump.
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The report covers the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and nuclear forces. Each is graded on capacity to respond to threats, the capability to meet them, and the readiness of units to immediately deploy as a combat-ready, trained force. Each category is rated “very weak,” “weak,” “marginal,” “strong,” and “very strong.” The report rates combat equipment on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being oldest and weakest and 5 being newest and strongest.
President Donald Trump has claimed several times that he has rebuilt the military, attempting to draw a contrast between defense spending under his administration and the previous administration of President Barack Obama. On May 22, 2020, Trump told an audience at the White House:
“We’ve secured over $2.1 trillion in funding to completely rebuild American military with two hun- — and think of that: 2.1 trillion — 2.1. Not — not billion. You know, it used to be “million.” And then, about 10 years ago, you started hearing “billion.” And now you’re starting to hear “trillion,” right? So it’s a — I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s good when we’re spending $2.1 trillion in funding on our military. Completely rebuild the milit- — the military.”
Inaccuracies aside, Trump's claim that he rebuilt the military is essentially rebuffed by the new report. "An Assessment of U.S. Military Power" says the Pentagon has made few, if any real gains in military power. The Army and Air Force are “marginal,” essentially the same as in previous years.
In some cases, the U.S. military has worsened under Trump. The Navy, Heritage assesses, is currently at “marginal” overall status, but “trending toward weak.” That represents a worsening of the Navy’s ability to respond to threats.
One service has improved in the last year: the Marine Corps. The Marines have gone from “weak” in 2018 and 2019 to “marginal.” U.S. nuclear weapons, which the Navy and Air Force maintain but the Strategic Command manages, are rated at “marginal” but “trending toward strong."
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The report also goes through major inventories of U.S. military equipment, rating them on age and capability from oldest/least capable (1) to newest/most capable (5). Much of the U.S. military’s equipment is essentially left over from the Cold War, a trend particularly noticeable in the inventories of the Army and Air Force.
The average airplane in the Air Force is 30 years old, and the Army’s tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are the same ones fielded in the 1980s, with critical upgrades to keep them relevant on today’s battlefield.
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