Latest Heritage Foundation report on US Military Strength gives only passing grade to US Marine Corps, marginal scores to the US Army and failing grades to Navy/Air Force in "capability, capacity, and readiness" to defend the homeland, successfully wage a major war and preserve freedom of movement on the sea, air, outer space and cyberspace domains.
Our current National Defense Strategy (NDS) acknowledges long term competition with major powers, (explicitly Russia and China) and recognizes the United States national security relies upon three interwoven components: 1) Sufficient military capacity to deter or win against large conventional powers in geographically distant regions, 2) Ability to conduct sustained operations against lesser threats, and 3) Maintain a U.S. presence in regions sufficient to deter behavior that threatens U.S. interests.
“As currently postured, the U.S. military is at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America’s vital national interests. It is rated as weak relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage against actual challenges in the world as it is rather than as we wish it were. This is the logical consequence of years of sustained use, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged.”
"The 2023 Index concludes that the current U.S. military force is at significant risk of not being able to meet the demands of a single major regional conflict..."
Read the full executive summary of Heritage Foundation: 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength
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