Recently, the US media "1945" conducted an analysis on the current status of the US military's base and logistics maintenance facilities. The US media pointed out in the analysis article: Today's US Air Force is still using the aviation base and facilities to maintain the fifth-generation fighter and other advanced aviation equipment such as fifth-generation fighter . Some US Navy aviation repair stations have 8 maintenance hangars, but only two can be used normally. This is because more than one-third of the US military's aviation maintenance facilities were built around 1940. From a technical perspective, it is obviously difficult to maintain complex modern weapons systems with simple facilities.
US media pointed out that the reality is that many barracks, car maintenance bases and warehouses that help keep the army running and ensure combat readiness are facing the problem of "split". The main reason for this phenomenon is that budget applications are too complex and cumbersome, and even the budget is often squeezed. This phenomenon has led to the modernization and upgrading of many US military bases being shelved! As of 2020, the additional costs that many US military bases have had to spend due to delayed maintenance have reached US$130 billion!
US media pointed out that data provided by the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows that if necessary maintenance is carried out in 2020, the cost will be at least $53 billion. This cost is equal to the cost of 670 F35 fighter or nearly 20 Virginia-class attack nuclear submarines. If the necessary upgrades of these base facilities are completed by 2022, it will be at least $61 billion. These additional efforts are all caused by the delayed maintenance of base facilities. Originally, these additional efforts should have been avoided!
U.S. media said: A statistical report from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows that after a careful inspection of 49,000 buildings being used by the U.S. military, it was found that the average age of these buildings was 47 years, and some buildings were even built for more than 70 years. The shortest construction time of the four major shipyards in the United States has been 114 years, and the longest has exceeded 200 years. Although some of the shipyard facilities have been updated, this update is not comprehensive. The US Navy is using the shipyards created in the past to build and maintain the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier , which will undoubtedly have a series of problems!
At the same time, the US media also pointed out in the article that when the US military receives a budget for maintaining infrastructure, it usually chooses to spend the budget on key facilities, such as the fighter runway and command center. Only a small part of the funds can be used to improve the quality of life of the US military. Previously, there were more than a dozen US military barracks in the Fort Bragg base in , North Carolina, and 1,100 US soldiers had to relocate temporarily.
It is hard to imagine that the US military, which has a far ahead in the annual military budget, actually has a very simple living conditions for soldiers due to lack of money, and some buildings that are being used by the US military are even at risk of "split up"! However, if you analyze carefully this article in the US media, it does not actually exaggerate. Behind the "glorious" appearance of the US military, there are indeed many logistical problems.
In the annual military budget ranking, the US military budget, which ranks first, is more than the 2 to 10 combined, but these military budgets of the US military must also be used to save money. The cost of weapons and equipment made by the US is usually much higher than similar equipment made by other countries. The cost of a Ford-class aircraft carrier exceeds US$12 billion, and the cost of an DDG-1000 destroyer exceeds US$7 billion. The United States also needs to maintain many overseas bases and spend huge amounts of money on the global deployment and exercises of the US military every year. Therefore, even if the current US military's annual military budget exceeds US$700 billion, it cannot be used with great force.
Take the problem of the US Navy shipyard mentioned by the US media in the article. The US Navy has the largest number of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the world, the largest tonnage and advanced performance. The number of aircraft carriers is as high as 11, and there are currently two " Ford-class " under construction. But it is hard to imagine that the only one of the entire United States can build Ford-class aircraft carriers is Newport News Shipyard . The specific point is that only one large dock in the Newport News Shipyard can build Ford-class aircraft carriers, which has led to the construction speed of Ford-class aircraft carriers being very slow. You can only wait for one ship to be launched before the other is assembled.
Currently, there are only four docks for aircraft carrier overhaul by the US military, including one on the east coast and the west coast of the United States, which can barely ensure the use of about 8 aircraft carriers of the US Navy in turn. A dock at Newport News Shipyard is only responsible for the mid-term replacement of the nuclear fuel rod for aircraft carriers. In addition, in Japan, Yokosuka , there is also a large dock for overhauling the US Navy aircraft carrier, but this dock is far away from the United States and basically becomes the dedicated dock for the Seventh Fleet . The dock at Yokosuka base is often idle, but the three docks in the United States that can overhaul aircraft carriers are saturated every year!
In comparison, China has the largest shipbuilding industry system and shipbuilding capabilities in the world. All the facilities of several large shipyards in China are brand new. These shipyards can build dozens of large surface ships such as destroyers at the same time. China currently has more than 30 docks with a length of more than 304.5 meters and a width of more than 75 meters. These more than 30 docks can build large ships of 100,000-ton. If compared with these shipyards and shipbuilding facilities in my country, the US shipbuilding system is indeed small in scale and old facilities!
At present, the U.S. Navy's warship is facing the problem of delayed maintenance due to the lack of sufficient maintenance facilities. The U.S. Navy once published statistics: If this situation is not resolved, in a few years, the U.S. Navy will have dozens of ships, , and have to "stay down" for a long time! A navy ship is like the ground building part of a skyscraper, while the infrastructure such as shipyards and docks are the foundations of the skyscrapers. The degree of reliability of the foundation determines the stability of the Mitian Building. The US Navy is still planning to increase the number of main ships. At the beginning of this year, U.S. Navy Secretary of Operations Michael Gilde proposed that the US Navy will be equipped with 363 manned combat ships and 150 unmanned ships in the future. However, behind these shipbuilding plans is the continuous shrinking of the US shipbuilding system and the continuous loss of shipbuilding technicians.
