The US military has become “weaker” and reliant on defense contractors, the Heritage Foundation says, calling for more military spending.
The conservative think tank, which is based in Washington, DC, published its annual report on the US military’s strength on Wednesday, concluding that America’s military power was only “marginal” and trending toward “weak.”
Dubbed the 2017 Index of US Military Power, the report’s findings were based on the military’s “capability or modernity, capacity for operations, and readiness to handle assigned missions successfully.”
According to the report, plans to downsize the US Army and postpone its equipment upgrades in order to improve readiness have fallen flat and only a third of the force’s units are prepared for battle.
“Even for units deployed abroad, the Army has had to increase its reliance on contracted support to meet maintenance requirements,” Heritage stated. “In summary, the Army is…