In July this year, the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 by an astonishing 86-11 score, setting the largest defense budget in human history, totaling $886.3 billion. ** Popularly known as "trillion-dollar military spending."
Huge Figures: Where Does $886 Billion Happen?
The figure of $886 billion is hard to ignore, so let's briefly break down what this huge amount means.
First of all, build a Ford-class aircraft carrier fleet for $37 billion**, including one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, six Aegis missile destroyers and two nuclear submarines, as well as corresponding aircraft equipment. 886 billion is enough to build 24 aircraft carrier formations.
In terms of total global military spending, the United States spends 45 percent of the total military spending of all countries in the world. In other words, the United States has only 3% of the world's population, but 45% of its military spending.
$886 billion also exceeds the GDP of most countries. There are only 19 countries with a global GDP of more than 900 billion, which is enough money to buy some medium-sized countries. Even for the United States, this amount accounts for nearly half of its 2024 free budget, which is six trillion dollars, of which four trillion is spent on regular spending, and the free budget is only two trillion.
The reason behind it: the demand for operations against China drives high military spending
Why is the US military budget so large in 2024?The reason is that the US Congress requires the military to start a draft assessment of the war against China next year.
The draft contains several important elements:
First, if a hot war breaks out between China and the United States in the Taiwan Strait, the United States will achieve a complete blockade of China's fossil fuel shipping lanes within 180 days. The blockade will be followed by an all-out assault and destruction of China's land trains, pipeline transport and production reserves.
Second, within these 180 days, the U.S. military will reactivate its military strategy and logistical supply functions, and build a forward command of the Indo-Pacific Joint Forces there. Considering that ** may be destroyed by Dongfeng missiles, the US military will also build a backup base in Micronesia.
To carry out these operations, the U.S. military is expected to deploy six carrier battle groups near China and equip them with land forces as a basis for defense and counterattacks.
In response to the possibility of losing a direct hot war to China, the United States was also asked to study the feasibility of the porcupine strategy proposed in 2022. The core idea of the porcupine strategy is to blockade the coast of Taiwan by deploying a large number of mines around Taiwan, forcing the PLA to abandon the offensive.
However, there are two problems with this approach. First of all, after the full-scale use of mines to blockade Taiwan, how to maintain a normal life for Taiwanese residents becomes a question, and it may not be a primary concern for Americans. Second, the United States may have underestimated China's determination to reunify Taiwan, which is not only an economic issue, but also a matter of national sovereignty.
The U.S. assessment plan also includes the evacuation of Taiwan's top personnel after the defeat of the war, the strengthening of surveillance and reconnaissance of the People's Liberation Army, and even the possibility of sending the Pacific Fleet to assist China in considering Russia's threat to NATO in Europe.
History Warning: Is the United States Going Back to Japan's Old Path?
Many people may think that the United States will not dare to take action against China, but it is worth noting that during World War II, the Americans did not expect Japan to do anything to China.
At that time, Japan's naval strength surpassed that of the United States, but its industrial strength was far inferior. Nevertheless, Japan planned to outmaneuver the United States through military adventures before its superiority in equipment was dissipated by the industrial power of the American military. However, the end result was that the Americans built a huge Japanese combined fleet in one year, and built 155 aircraft carriers in three years.
Today, the situation is similar to that before World War II, with the United States surpassing China in naval power, but its industrial capacity and access to resources are not only far inferior to China's, but also close to its own ceiling.
China has achieved rapid growth in the combat effectiveness of its military with less than one-third of the Americans' military spending, and even now has 70 percent of the world's ship production capacity. Americans can't imagine how terrible it would be if China's industrial capacity were at full capacity. Therefore, from the US Congress to the military, preparations are being made for a possible military adventure.
History tells us that the Americans did not think that Japan would do anything to them during World War II. And now, we have to be wary of whether the United States will find itself in a similar situation.
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