To counter China, US must urgently reform Pentagon, says first-of-its-kind report

A senior US defence department official on Thursday issued a warning emphasising the urgent need for reform within the extensive Pentagon system if the US aims to effectively address the “pacing challenge” posed by Beijing. The organisation is known for its lengthy decision-making processes, sluggish weapons development, and a tendency to over-design items that could be produced more cost-effectively by private companies. According to a South China Morning Post report, the US on Thursday released its first National Industrial Defence Strategy, acknowledging that a declining industrial base, supply-chain constraints and the outflow of weapons to Ukraine have left America vulnerable as companies supplying the Pentagon face mounting frustration over its lumbering pace. “We know that it’s not easy always to work with the Department of Defence. Many of you in the audience tell me that regularly,” South China Morning Post quoted Laura Taylor-Kale, the US assistant secretary of defence for industrial base policy, a newly created position, as saying. “Well, we’re here. So what is it that we need in order to move forward? What is it that we need in order to be able to really build the industrial ecosystem that we need, that our warfighters need, in order to meet the pacing threats and current challenges?" Taylor-Kale asked. According to the report, Taylor-Kale noted that various factors have prompted Washington to recognise the vulnerability of its military logistics system. These factors encompass the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s dominant role in lithium processing crucial for electric vehicles and green technologies, and Beijing’s recent imposition of export restrictions on gallium and germanium, essential components in numerous electronics.  Additionally, the stockpiled weapons dispatched to Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion will require several years to replenish. Meanwhile, the US lags behind in the development of highly maneuverable hypersonic weapons, which both Beijing and Moscow have already deployed. “As many of us have analysed the Chinese industrial base, the US’s pacing threat, the main global competitor, it is moving swiftly, building weapons systems in preparation for a possible war with the United States," Seth Jones of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, told South China Morning Post. “So the defence industrial base is an essential aspect of deterrence as much as it is for warfighting,” Jones added. The strategy also recommended that the Pentagon team up with Indo-Pacific allies and partners to counter China, as Washington has done with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and others to assist Ukraine. “We can’t afford to wait. We have seen over the last few years, the importance of why we need resilient supply chains,” said Taylor-Kale. The importance is not just for “us domestically, but also for our close allies and partners”, she added. “We think that the time for action is now.”

The comprehensive 60-page report extensively covered fundamental principles and general concepts, deliberately lacking specific details. Taylor-Kale emphasized that this approach was intentional, providing a broad framework applicable to evolving theaters and weapons systems in the future. While uncertainties about the exact specifications, such as battery types, persist, the report asserted the certainty of the continued importance of critical minerals like lithium and strategic materials. In addition, the Pentagon advocated for increased production, investment, and capacity, as well as enhanced stockpiling. Collaboration with allies, particularly within the Aukus alliance (comprising Australia, Britain, and the US), was highlighted. The overarching goal is to bolster weapons production and facilitate seamless integration of various weapons systems, ranging from artillery and cyber tools to hypersonic weapons. The report underscored the imperative of collaborating closely with allies to increase weapons production internationally. It recommended the pursuit of this objective through the establishment, growth, and maintenance of multiple redundant production lines across a consortium of like-minded nations. Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Washington slammed the report’s focus on China. “The China-related content of the National Defense Industrial Strategy hypes up major-power competition, zero-sum game," South China Morning Post  quoted spokesman Liu Pengyu as saying. “It aims to smear China with its Cold-War mentality. The sole purpose is to contain and suppress China’s development and maintain the US hegemony. China deplores and rejects this,” added Liu. With inputs from agencies