Very interesting article written by Pentagon guy who was responsible for military orders and innovation.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/empty-arsenal-democracy-michael-brown

In short:

- A Pacific conflict needs 5,000 long-range missiles weekly, but U.S. stockpiles, only in the tens of thousands, would deplete in weeks. Entire US stockpiles of long range missiles contains around 30k missiles, meanwhile Russia alone fired 12k similar missiles only in years 2023-2025. Ukraine aid consumed a year’s 155mm shell production (14,000/month) in weeks, while Russia produces 3M shells yearly.

- U.S. Navy ships (avg. age >20 years) and aircraft are older than China’s. China’s navy (370+ ships) surpasses the U.S.’s 290, with newer vessels. Production capacity of Chinese shipyards are x400 bigger than American ones.

- The U.S. imports one-third of energetics materials, including from China, relying on outdated WWII-era factories. China and Russia use modernized facilities, leveraging U.S. research.

- China leads in affordable drones, while the U.S. struggles to scale commercial tech (e.g., AI, autonomy) for military use

These gaps -low stockpiles, aging assets, foreign reliance, and tech lags - expose U.S. unpreparedness for great-power conflict even against Russia, not to mention China.

A hint useful especially for frontline "staunch allies" of the US of A such as Bolanda xD