The United States is getting anxious! With our new equipment constantly emerging and new combat capabilities continuously forming, the U.S. Air Force Secretary has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the U.S. Air Force! On September 23, according to foreign media reports, U.S. Air Force Secretary Minick stated that the United States possesses the best fighter jets in the world. However, the availability rate of U.S. fighter jets is extremely low, with almost only half being able to fly.
F-22s stationed at Langley Base in Virginia have excellent performance, but there are many non-operational aircraft parked beside them, even unable to be repaired due to a lack of parts, indicating that logistics problems have seriously hindered combat capabilities. The availability rate of U.S. fighter jets has declined from 73% in 1994 to 54% in 2024. Although the problem was known, the actual situation is much more severe than expected. It is clear that our new combat capabilities continue to emerge, and new equipment keeps appearing, while the U.S. military is increasingly dissatisfied with the current state of the U.S. Air Force.
Certainly, although the U.S. side did not mention us, the U.S. military, which has long been paying attention to China's military development, would certainly be anxious and upset about this situation. Our equipment is not only new, but also has strong combat capabilities, higher technological content, and larger scale, while the U.S. shows a certain degree of fatigue. Take the U.S. F-22 as an example; after the production line was dismantled in 2011, each F-22 is used one less, and spare parts will become a problem in the future.
In fact, besides the air force, the U.S. Navy may face even bigger problems. Public data show that the average age of U.S. aircraft carriers has reached 32 years. What worries the U.S. even more is that with the decline of its shipbuilding capacity, the average maintenance delay for U.S. aircraft carriers has reached 113 days, and the average delay for submarines has reached 225 days. In addition, with the high debt burden of the U.S. government, the pressure to maintain U.S. military power is increasing, not to mention the huge investments required to maintain its leading position. Obviously, the U.S. is indeed facing quite a few troubles.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1844068323644426/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.