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Text: Xu Xu.
Edited by Xu Xu.
Recently, a member of the US Congress broke the news that the US military purchased a bag of small screws at a sky-high price of $90,000. This shocking news has sparked heated discussions on the Internet, and at the same time, it has also made people think deeply about the corruption and inefficiency of the US military industrial system. The cost of manufacturing a bag of screws in China is no more than 100 yuan, and the US military's purchase price is simply burning money! This cannot help but make people question: Where is the US military's money spent? Is it being filled by some "leather bag companies"?
This incident once again exposed the shortcomings of the US military-industrial system. Since the beginning of the 21 st century, the US military's weapons and equipment projects have been repeatedly delayed, overspent, and immature, and its superiority is rapidly being overtaken by other countries. At the same time, the United States is seriously lagging behind the times in emerging areas of warfare, such as drones. The hollowing out of manufacturing has left the U.S. military's supply chain scattered around the globe and difficult to control, laying the groundwork for corruption and inefficiency. If the United States does not pay attention to and resolve these problems in a timely manner, its military superiority will be increasingly overtaken by other countries, and its national security will also be threatened.
The "screwgate" incident of the US military is undoubtedly a vivid portrayal of the corruption and inefficiency of the US military industrial system. A small bag of screws costs less than 100 yuan to manufacture in China, but when the U.S. military procures them, the price is as high as 90,000 US dollars. This kind of sky-high price of procurement cannot help but make people question: Where is the US military's money spent? Is it being filled by some "leather bag companies"?
In fact, this kind of procurement corruption has long been commonplace in the U.S. military system. As early as 2018, there were reports exposing the purchase of an ordinary paint bucket by the US military, which cost as much as $7,000. And in 2021, there is a coffee cup with a purchase price of nearly 10,000 US dollars. These absurd purchase prices all reflect the serious corruption and inefficiency problems within the US military system.
The main reason for this is the complexity of the U.S. military-industrial system and the lack of effective supervision. The procurement of weapons and equipment by the US military often involves many middlemen and subcontractors, and the supply chain is scattered around the world, making it difficult to effectively control. This, coupled with the hollowing out of U.S. manufacturing, has made the supply chain of the military industry more fragile, laying the groundwork for corruption and inefficiency.
In addition to corruption in procurement, the lag in the research and development of weapons and equipment of the US military is also a major reason why it is losing its advantage day by day. Since the beginning of the 21 st century, many weapons and equipment projects of the US military, such as new destroyers and fighter planes, have been repeatedly delayed, overspent, and immature in technology, and their superiority is rapidly being overtaken by other countries.
Taking the new fighter F-35 of the US military as an example, the project has been developed since 1992 and has cost trillions of dollars, but there are still many technical defects and insufficient performance. At the same time, China's new generation of stealth fighters has begun to enter service, with excellent performance and low cost, and is rapidly narrowing the gap with the US military.
Another example is the new destroyer DDG-1000 of the US military, which has been in development since 2005, and plans to build 32 ships, but due to high costs, technical deficiencies and other problems, only 3 were finally built. In contrast, China's new destroyers are constantly innovating and becoming more and more powerful, and have formed a scale advantage.
In addition to the lag in the research and development of weapons and equipment, the backwardness of the US military in the field of emerging warfare is also a major reason why it is gradually losing its advantage. Take drones as an example, in the war in Ukraine, drones played an important role, but the US military is seriously behind the trend of the times in this area.
In fact, as early as 2010, the U.S. military began to develop the "Avenger" UAV, which is planned to be mass-produced in 2019. However, due to technical difficulties and budgetary problems, the project has been repeatedly postponed and has not yet been put into practice. At the same time, drone technology in Turkey, Iran and other countries has developed rapidly, showing strong combat effectiveness on multiple battlefields.
The backwardness of the U.S. military in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles reflects its shortcomings in emerging forms of warfare. In future wars, unmanned and intelligent will be the general trend, but the US military seems to be still stuck in the traditional thinking of mass killing, ignoring the importance of these emerging fields. If the strategy is not adjusted in time, the superiority of the US military will be gradually overtaken by other countries.
Another important reason why the US military is losing its advantage day by day is the hollowing out of the US manufacturing industry. Over the past few decades, U.S. manufacturing has been outsourced and relocated, leading to a shrinking domestic manufacturing base. This hollowing out of the manufacturing industry has had a serious impact on the U.S. military's military industry.
Due to the weak manufacturing base, the US military's weapons and equipment supply chain has to be scattered around the world, making it difficult to effectively control it. This not only increases procurement costs, but also creates hidden dangers for corruption and inefficiency. Once there is a supply chain disruption, the combat effectiveness of the US military will be seriously affected.
At the same time, the hollowing out of manufacturing has also led to a lack of autonomy in some key areas for the US military. Taking chips as an example, the United States is extremely dependent on foreign chip companies such as TSMC, and once the supply chain is interrupted, it will deal a fatal blow to the weapons and equipment of the US military.
Therefore, revitalizing the manufacturing industry and rebuilding the domestic industrial chain is crucial to maintaining the national security of the United States. Only with a strong manufacturing base can the U.S. military truly grasp the autonomy of weapons and equipment and ensure the security of the supply chain. Otherwise, the superiority of the US military will be increasingly overtaken by other countries.
Netizens hotly discussed:
This incident quickly aroused heated discussions among netizens on the Internet. Some netizens believe that this kind of procurement corruption of the US military has reached the point of hopelessness, and it is simply dismantling the United States. Some netizens believe that this is just a microcosm of the internal problems of the US military system, reflecting deep-seated problems such as the hollowing out of the US manufacturing industry and the fragmentation of the supply chain. Some netizens believe that the backwardness of the US military in the field of emerging warfare is also an important reason why it is gradually losing its advantage, and if it does not adjust its strategy in time, the advantage of the US military will be gradually overtaken by other countries.
Summary:
To sum up, the "screw door" incident of the US military has once again exposed the shortcomings of the US military industrial system. Corruption in procurement, lagging behind in research and development of weapons and equipment, backwardness in emerging warfare fields, and hollowing out of manufacturing are all important reasons for the US military to lose its superiority day by day.
If the United States does not pay attention to and resolve these problems in a timely manner, its military superiority will be increasingly overtaken by other countries, and its national security will also be threatened. Therefore, the United States needs to strengthen the supervision of the military industrial system, improve the transparency of procurement, increase investment in emerging war fields to keep up with the trend of the times, revitalize the manufacturing industry, rebuild the domestic industrial chain, and ensure the security of the supply chain. Only in this way can the US military truly grasp the autonomy of weapons and equipment and maintain its leading position in the world's military forces.
So, how do you think the United States should solve these problems in the military-industrial system? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.