Has the Pentagon become a machine to lose against the Chinese armies?

With an annual budget of $841 billion in 2024, the Pentagon has almost three times more financial resources than the second world military power, China, which is capping below $300 billion in this area.

However, in recent months, concerns have multiplied, including within American Defense Think Tanks, which highlight a crossing of military lines between the United States and China, around 2027, leading to a significant increase in the risks of conflict, particularly around Taiwan.

However, with 5000 battle tanks, 3000 fighter planes, 11 aircraft carriers and 45 nuclear attack submarines, the American Armies seem to outclass the People's Liberation Army in all areas, and more generally, all armies of the world.

However, the budgetary efficiency of American defense investment has deteriorated to such an extent over the last twenty years that despite this considerable advance over the PLA, and this colossal budget, it clearly appears that the Armed Forces The Americans will not be able to maintain their dominant position for much longer, at least not without changes that are as radical as they are unlikely, concerning the budgetary and industrial management of defense industrial programs by the Pentagon.

The disastrous management of Defense industrial programs by the Pentagon for 20 years

The astronomical amount that the American defense effort represents today is mainly explained by two concomitant factors. The first is based on personnel costs, which have been rising constantly for 20 years, well beyond inflation.

And for good reason, with very low unemployment, and much more difficult working conditions than the traditional 8 a.m. to 17 p.m., the American armies have had to significantly increase salaries, pensions and various bonuses, to attract new candidates, and to try to retain those arriving at the end of their contract.

Thus, an American soldier receives, on average, a salary representing $60 per year, excluding bonuses, whereas a PLA soldier receives, still on average, $000 each year. The Armies of the two countries having comparable formats, we understand that personnel expenses are much heavier, of the order of a factor of 18, once pensions, bonuses and various social benefits are integrated, for the United States than for China.

If the Pentagon's personnel costs appear incompressible, they represent, on the other hand, only half of the approximately $840 billion annually received by the American armies.

The rest is distributed to the industrial sector, for fuel, spare parts, services, and especially for the acquisition of new equipment, representing, on average, around $180 billion each year, i.e. defense budgets. of Germany, Great Britain and France, united.

It is precisely this area which, over the last 20 years, has seen its effectiveness deteriorate very significantly. Indeed, the vast majority of industrial defense programs launched since 1990 fall into four categories, problematic to say the least...

FARA, DDG 1000, GCV…: the list of programs canceled by the American Armed Forces is growing

The first of these categories is also the most spectacular and the most restrictive. These are major programs canceled, not without having consumed considerable budgetary resources before doing so.

Far from representing only a tiny part of the major industrial programs launched by the American Armies, these aborted initiatives can be broken down into two families. First, the programs abandoned during the design phase. This is the case, in recent months, of XM-1299 super-cannon from the US Army's ERCA program, which was confronted with excessive ambitions that could not be satisfied by the state of technological and scientific knowledge.

A few months ago, it was the FARA reconnaissance and attack helicopter program, still from the US Army, which was abandoned while it was in the final selection phase, not without having cost a whopping $5 billion so far, and $2 billion more, to respect the commitments made to Bell and Sikorsky for the competition. -even. It was the same twenty years earlier, with the RAH-66 Comanche, abandoned in 2004, after having cost $39 billion, without any aircraft entering service.

The US Navy, too, has distinguished itself in this area, with the CGx program intended to replace the Ticonderoga cruisers, abandoned in 2010, it is true early enough in the process so as not to generate considerable expenses.

But this was not the case with the Seawolf class nuclear attack submarines, abandoned after three examples to turn to the Virginia class, much more economical, and above all DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyers, of which the only 3 examples built, out of the 21 planned, together cost $21 billion, the price of almost three Ronald Reagan class aircraft carriers.

OMFV, IVAS, NGAD…: reboots of defense programs are increasing, extending deadlines and uncertainties

Another great specialty of the American armies, in recent years, has been to stop an ongoing program, to relaunch it, some time later, on renewed bases. The latest example in this area was given by the US Army with the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, augmented reality combat glasses program.

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