(RightWing.org) – The United States military in the 21st Century is no longer one where they can hand a recruit a rifle and say “Go, fight, win!” The technology that is being built into everything from what an infantry soldier uses to the new B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber is becoming increasingly dependent upon components like computer chips.
Imagine a scenario where the British had been dependent upon German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt AG for half of the parts that went into an RAF Spitfire during World War II. Kind of sounds like a bad alternative history movie, doesn’t it? Retired United States Army Major General John G Ferrari is trying to sound an alarm on how something similar could happen to America if war were to break out with its biggest adversary on the world stage.
Cause for Concern
An exclusive story published by The Daily Mail included an interview with Ferrari where he told them that he is worried about the military’s reliance on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) when it comes to raw materials and finished components. His warnings come at a time when Beijing is upping the pressure for “reunification” with the Republic of China (Taiwan/ROC) including recent military maneuvers where they completely surrounded the island nation.
The general told the outlet that it’s not something that lends itself to an overnight change, saying that in his opinion “it could take 10 to 15 years for the U.S. to disentangle itself from China.” His warnings come just months after the Pentagon received a report on a study they had requested from defense technology contractor Govini titled the 2024 National Security Scorecard.
Govini found that when it comes to advanced engineering materials such as rare-earth minerals, China outpaced the United States in related patents by a factor of more than five over the three years from FY 2021-2023. They also found that the PRK has the highest number of foreign suppliers for “critical technologies” which include things such as artificial intelligence, hypersonic missiles, and robotics for all branches of the United States military.
It would be a mistake to assume that these are just potential problems that can be dealt with in the future because there are real-world issues that have occurred. In 2023, it was reported that malware that was allegedly Chinese in origin was found in several military systems that could have given the Communist nation the ability to disrupt potential deployments.
In February 2024 — per a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ) — Chinese-born Chenguang Gong was arrested for allegedly stealing thousands of files that included blueprints for sensors used to detect the launch of nuclear missiles and track them in real-time. Other files had the designs for equipment military aircraft use to detect and defend themselves against heat-seeking missiles.
Considering the serious threats to the United States, it is easy to understand Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) frustration with the Biden administration’s distracting obsession with “their injection of liberal and woke policies into the U.S. military.”
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