US is running out its munition after a seven-day war with China

PANAGYURISHTE, BULGARIA — The US will run out of precision munitions seven days after the start of a war with China. This is shown by the results of several war games held in the Indo-Pacific region. It is for this reason that the Indo-Pacific Command [INDOPACOM] wants to increase the US military budget by $15 billion.

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INDOPACOM wants precision and long-range munitions and delivery of new weapons to the region. According to the command, advanced air defense and cyber defense should be integrated by 2027. Why exactly is the year 2027? China is supposed to have chosen this year to invade Taiwan. According to the EurAsian Times, the Communist Party has chosen 2027 as the year for an alleged invasion of the island.

Experts suggest that the White House will not grant INDOPACOM’s request. The US defense budget is currently $840 billion – the largest in the history of the states. According to analysts, Washington will want to integrate new weapons, systems, ammunition, and defense capabilities in the longer term in the region.

The Indo-Pacific Command’s request includes improving Guam’s air defense capabilities. A key US base that Chinese medium-range missiles can reach. This claim is valued at $1.6 billion. Almost five times that about $5.3 billion, is the request for radar devices, including ground-based infrared radars to track missiles within the Arctic range.

The command also wants another $1 billion spent on the same region to build a low-Earth missile warning system. The command calls this system the “space sensor layer”.

New sea mines, anti-ship missiles, Tomahawk missiles, development of longer Tomahawk range, anti-submarine torpedoes, and more air-to-surface, air-to-air missiles for the regional fleets of F-35 stealth fighters. This request by INDOPACOM in total means about $1.3 billion more than the budgeted funds.

The request to increase the budget for this region comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping steps up diplomacy in the Middle East and Europe over the war between Russia and Ukraine. More recently, Mr. Xi even talked about a new global army. This includes not only military but also civil-military companies specializing in the mass production of semiconductors, integrated circuits, and microchips. The “World Class” military, as Mr. Xi calls it, should make China independent of the foreign components that underpin any precision missile. In this way, the Chinese leader will try to make China resistant to economic sanctions.

INDOPACOM wants another $2 billion for new bases, especially ones to house US bombers. Their geographic location is currently under speculation, but it is believed to be new bomber hangars and parking lots are to be located in Tyndall and Darwin in Australia. Part of the money will go towards developing an airport in Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Guam could be getting a new submarine pier and a completely new threefold satellite communications base.

Anderson Air Force Base needs to accommodate more fighter jets. Therefore, INDOPACOM is increasing its capacity. On the island of Tinian, it is possible to have new warehouses for ammunition and weapons, as well as piers for smaller military boats and ships.

Everything INDOPACOM is asking raises the question of whether it will help deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Unlike the United States, China does not have such a complex bureaucracy that particularly deters military projects and decisions. Realistically, China could invade now, not four years from now as suggested. I.e. Beijing does not have to wait for Washington to further arm the region.

I.e. everything depends on overcoming the bureaucratic obstacles in the American administration. With an election coming up, it’s not certain that the current White House administration will be the same. Separately, whether it remains the same, political circles in Washington rarely agree. Time is the most powerful weapon that China currently has.

Different perspectives

However, analysts have examined the INDOPACOM report and noticed something troubling. According to them, even the command does not believe in dealing with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The language and tone of the report speak more to deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan than offensive action.

I.e. in military-strategic terms, the USA knows its capabilities very well. Things are generally always simpler there – you follow orders, chase targets, and achieve victories or losses. Politically, however, experts say, Washington has misinterpreted China’s intentions on Taiwan.

In Chinese politics, Taiwan is not just an island, but is deeply connected and rooted in the national identity of the Chinese people. I.e. to deter China politically, you have to have a trump card in your hand to play against Beijing. It’s called compromise.

The US continues to think that its actions are right and others are wrong. However, China is at the other pole. I.e. the situation with China is this: the more you arm Taiwan, the more you pose a threat to my country. While in Washington, the logic is reversed: the more we arm Taiwan, the more we deter China. I.e. today’s American strategists and analysts miss the fact that arming Taiwan will not deter Chinese intentions. On the contrary, Beijing will harden its position against a mandatory invasion of the island. I.e. the need to attack Taiwan will be more urgent.

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