Use 'hedge forces' to break the Pentagon's force-structure death spiral
The U.S. military must move away from exquisite general-purpose units and weapons.
BRYAN CLARK and DAN PATT | MARCH 21, 2024 02:34 PM ET
COMMENTARY PENTAGON DEFENSE BUDGET DRONES CHINA
Many have criticized the Biden administration’s fiscal 2025 defense spending proposal as insufficient to its time, because U.S. allies and partners are under attack in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. These critics—and the administration officials who say Congressional budget caps have tied their hands—miss the bigger picture: America’s military is in a force-structure death spiral.
After decades of pursuing ever-more-sophisticated ships and aircraft, spurred most recently by the need to pace the People’s Liberation Army, the Defense Department has fielded a force that is now too expensive to grow. Next year, the Pentagon plans to retire more ships and aircraft than it will buy, just as it did this year. With new platforms like the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, DDG(X) destroyer, and SSN(X) submarine on the horizon, this trend is likely to continue, ultimately shrinking the U.S. military to a small force optimized to counter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
The Pentagon can only arrest the trend toward fewer, more sophisticated platforms by changing its approach to force planning. Instead of pursuing a “one size fits all” military that can both pace China and deal with other situations around the world, the DoD will need to increasingly tailor forces for specific regions or events. And the most urgent and obvious place to start is with the Taiwan-invasion scenario.
Hedging, not dominating
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2024/03/stop-pentagons-force-structure-death-spiral-hedge-forces/395127/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story
