War Game Results Don't Bode Well for US Military

Last year, a war game simulation looked at what might happen if China launched an amphibious attack on Taiwan. China would be happy with the results: The US side ran out of long-range cruise missiles in a week, writes Michael R. Gordon in the Wall Street Journal. The reasons behind that are complex, as detailed by Gordon in a lengthy and bleak assessment of America's military readiness in the modern era. "Five years ago, after decades fighting insurgencies in the Middle East and Central Asia, the U.S. started tackling a new era of great-power competition with China and Russia," writes Gordon. "It isn’t yet ready, and there are major obstacles in the way."

Among those obstacles: The US has fewer arms manufacturers because of corporate consolidation, military recruitment is down, shipyards "are struggling to produce the submarines the Navy says it needs to counter China’s larger naval fleet," and US weapons designers lag those in Russia and China on hypersonic missiles. Yes, the US had military successes in the Mideast and Afghanistan, thanks largely to air superiority, but things would be different in a conflict with China. For one thing, our Asian bases rely on "long and potentially vulnerable supply routes." The US has new weapons systems in the works that may be game-changers (Gordon provides details. But they won't be operational for another decade or so, raising fears China will strike before then.) Read the full story. (Or check out other longform stories.)