Has Biden made us weaker militarily?

[Kondor3]

Everything you dead black souled decaying ghouls say about trump is made up crap the media told you. You know nothing but what the TV tells your black dead soul.

You tell 'em, Skippy... what are you... like 16 years old? ...I'm a Centrist, little one... one who stands firmly against your Orange Flim-Flam Man...

 

[miketx]

You tell 'em, Skippy... what are you... like 16 years old? ...I'm a Centrist, little one... one who stands firmly against your Orange Flim-Flam Man...

No you're a demented lifeless soulless ghoul that breeds evil and lies everytime you open your cock socket.

 

[Kondor3]

But yet it is the Potatohead administration that is destroying this country.

Great investment by the Chicoms, huh? Give the Potatohead a billion dollar "investment", release a bio weapon and then get their man in the White House.

Then prove it, and then crucify him-and-his in the criminal law courts... if you can... meanwhile, we deal with the Orange Benedict Arnold of January 6 2021.

 

[Kondor3]

No you're a demented lifeless soulless ghoul that breeds was evil and lies everytime you open your cock socket.

Mind your manners in the presence of your betters, Princess... what has any of this to do with the topic or related sidebars?

 

[Kondor3]

Howler Monkey

Yeah... he's a mouthy little *****, but there's not much of a mind behind the ad hominems... but he's a darned FUNNY little troll...

I don't think he's said a word about the Biden Admin and the military nor comparisons between it and the Trump Admin since the first sign of Rump bashing...

It doesn't take much to set him off... but it's damned funny to watch unfold...

 

[skye]

Yes he has.

Well, Biden's puppeteers have.

Absolutely they have.

 

[miketx]

Yeah... he's a mouthy little *****, but there's not much of a mind behind the ad hominems... but he's a darned FUNNY little troll...

I don't think he's said a word about the Biden Admin and the military nor comparisons between it and the Trump Admin since the first sign of Rump bashing...

It doesn't take much to set him off... but it's damned funny to watch unfold...

Why would I respond to you lying pos in any meaningful way? There's no point in debating liars like yourself. Why on earth would I talk about Biden? Everyone knows he's a senile puppet and the democrats behind him are the ones in power. Why do I need to comment on that? Anyone with a brain knows it's true. Why do i need to talk about trump? We all know what the soulless democrat scum are trying to do to him, with the help of you media fed pieces of shit. Lol.

 

[emilseine45]

Why would I respond to you lying pos in any meaningful way? There's no point in debating liars like yourself. Why on earth would I talk about Biden? Everyone knows he's a senile puppet and the democrats behind him are the ones in power. Why do I need to comment on that? Anyone with a brain knows it's true. Why do i need to talk about trump? We all know what the soulless democrat scum are trying to do to him, with the help of you media fed pieces of shit. Lol.

You're wrong about Biden, he don't take crap from anyone.

 

[rightwinger]

Yeah... he's a mouthy little *****, but there's not much of a mind behind the ad hominems... but he's a darned FUNNY little troll...

I don't think he's said a word about the Biden Admin and the military nor comparisons between it and the Trump Admin since the first sign of Rump bashing...

It doesn't take much to set him off... but it's damned funny to watch unfold...

He is nothing but a Howler Monkey

 

[miketx]

You're wrong about Biden, he don't take crap from anyone.

You're an idiot.

 

[para bellum]

Does the fact Biden gave so much to Ukraine moneywise that we wouldn't be ready for an armed conflict with China? Has he weakened the military?

The short answer is no, we have not lowered our readiness vs. China due to Ukraine.

There are 2 mechanisms to provide weapons to Ukraine. The first is Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA. Under PDA, a US President can pull weapons from US inventories and use them for "unforeseen emergencies". That amount is currently set at up to $11 Bn/yr.

The other way is the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This is direct funding passed by Congress, used to purchase weapons from suppliers in the US and elsewhere.

These are funded through supplemental appropriations. For FY22 and FY23 combined it's about $49 Bn. Of that, about $18 Bn went to USAI, and $26 Bn went to the Pentagon to replenish stocks that were drawn down under PDA. There is another $5 Bn in "normal" Foreign Military Sales (FMS) added to the USAI and PDA that is also under the supplementals, hence the $49 Bn total, not $43 Bn.

To date, $19.2 Bn has been provided through PDA, and I think about $12 Bn in USAI has been committed but not necessarily spent. The first of the new "Made in USA" weapons purchased under USAI (ordered last year) are only now starting to be delivered. The bulk of the USAI funds so far have been used to purchase soviet-era weapons and munitions from other countries.

Most of what we have actually provided from our own inventories has been older versions of weapons (designed to counter Soviet weapons), that we are replacing with newer versions (designed to counter Chinese weapons).

So that will not hurt readiness vice China.***

*** Doesn't necessarily mean we are ready to take on China....

More important to China (I would argue) is the unified western response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. This is what really gives Xi second thoughts wrt Taiwan.

 

[miketx]

The short answer is no, we have not lowered our readiness vs. China due to Ukraine.

There are 2 mechanisms to provide weapons to Ukraine. The first is Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA. Under PDA, a US President can pull weapons from US inventories and use them for "unforeseen emergencies". That amount is currently set at up to $11 Bn/yr.

The other way is the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This is direct funding passed by Congress, used to purchase weapons from suppliers in the US and elsewhere.

These are funded through supplemental appropriations. For FY22 and FY23 combined it's about $49 Bn. Of that, about $18 Bn went to USAI, and $26 Bn went to the Pentagon to replenish stocks that were drawn down under PDA. There is another $5 Bn in "normal" Foreign Military Sales (FMS) added to the USAI and PDA that is also under the supplementals, hence the $49 Bn total, not $43 Bn.

To date, $19.2 Bn has been provided through PDA, and I think about $12 Bn in USAI has been committed but not necessarily spent. The first of the new "Made in USA" weapons purchased under USAI (ordered last year) are only now starting to be delivered. The bulk of the USAI funds so far have been used to purchase soviet-era weapons and munitions from other countries.

Most of what we have actually provided from our own inventories has been older versions of weapons (designed to counter Soviet weapons), that we are replacing with newer versions (designed to counter Chinese weapons).

So that will not hurt readiness vice China.***

*** Doesn't necessarily mean we are ready to take on China....

More important to China (I would argue) is the unified western response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. This is what really gives Xi second thoughts wrt Taiwan.

You must have a top secret tv.

 

[para bellum]

You must have a top secret tv.

Nope, just the Congressional Research Service. All in the public record, very transparent.

If you want to know how many GMRLS rockets we sent in 2022, it's in the SIPRI database...(it was 5,000)

Not secret. Nothing I post on this board is or will be outside the public domain.

 

[miketx]

Nope, just the Congressional Research Service. All in the public record, very transparent.

If you want to know how many GMRLS rockets we sent in 2022, it's in the SIPRI database...(it was 5,000)

Not secret. Nothing I post on this board is or will be outside the public domain.

NO thanks, I grow weary of government lies.

 

[para bellum]

NO thanks, I grow weary of government lies.

Maybe it's time for your pill.

 

[Mushroom]

Does the fact Biden gave so much to Ukraine moneywise that we wouldn't be ready for an armed conflict with China? Has he weakened the military?

No, because whenever this happens we never sell equipment that we need at the time.

Over the last decade, a lot of equipment has become surplus as the military has been shrinking since 2008. We are now down to only a single Armored Division for example, and entire Battalions of Marines have been disbanded in addition to all Marine armored units.

We still have a huge surplus of equipment from the Cold War, and the increase during Iraq and Afghanistan. And with a smaller military a hell of a lot just sits in depots all over the country.

And a hell of a lot of it would be of little use in a war with anybody, as in the modern era it takes around a year to train most to go from civilian to ready to serve in a unit. We could sell a hell of a lot more, as we still have enough tanks sitting in reserve to form at least 2 armored divisions. And the number of PAC-2 PATRIOT launchers in depots is increasing as we are in the process of replacing them with PAC-3 MSE. Hell, I just retired recently, and I was still seeing a lot of Reagan era equipment in use. We had so damned much equipment from when we still had over 2 million in uniform that our current 1.3 million force often has multiple sets of equipment.

I know in my last two units, we had "Training equipment" that we pulled out whenever we went on a field exercise. Then we had an additional two full sets. One stationed an hour away in a warehouse in case it was needed locally for say an emergency. And another full set stored for embarkation onto planes or ships to use overseas.

And to be honest, to me the biggest concern was that in the last decade and a half we largely gutted our mothball reserves. Things like ships and planes we had set aside for a major emergency. Davis-Monthan and the reserve fleets we used to have are almost gone compared to what they were just 15 years ago. But the groundside equipment the Army uses, we still have plenty of that sitting in storage.

 

[Mushroom]

Did our invasions of Kuwait

When exactly did we invade Kuwait? They have been our ally there for almost 4 decades.

 

[San Souci]

Does the fact Biden gave so much to Ukraine moneywise that we wouldn't be ready for an armed conflict with China? Has he weakened the military?

Yes. Besides that ,he is firing all the GOOD soldiers and recruiting for divirsity. Pretty soon we really WILL have "The Queen Beret".

 

[emilseine45]

No, because whenever this happens we never sell equipment that we need at the time.

Over the last decade, a lot of equipment has become surplus as the military has been shrinking since 2008. We are now down to only a single Armored Division for example, and entire Battalions of Marines have been disbanded in addition to all Marine armored units.

We still have a huge surplus of equipment from the Cold War, and the increase during Iraq and Afghanistan. And with a smaller military a hell of a lot just sits in depots all over the country.

And a hell of a lot of it would be of little use in a war with anybody, as in the modern era it takes around a year to train most to go from civilian to ready to serve in a unit. We could sell a hell of a lot more, as we still have enough tanks sitting in reserve to form at least 2 armored divisions. And the number of PAC-2 PATRIOT launchers in depots is increasing as we are in the process of replacing them with PAC-3 MSE. Hell, I just retired recently, and I was still seeing a lot of Reagan era equipment in use. We had so damned much equipment from when we still had over 2 million in uniform that our current 1.3 million force often has multiple sets of equipment.

I know in my last two units, we had "Training equipment" that we pulled out whenever we went on a field exercise. Then we had an additional two full sets. One stationed an hour away in a warehouse in case it was needed locally for say an emergency. And another full set stored for embarkation onto planes or ships to use overseas.

And to be honest, to me the biggest concern was that in the last decade and a half we largely gutted our mothball reserves. Things like ships and planes we had set aside for a major emergency. Davis-Monthan and the reserve fleets we used to have are almost gone compared to what they were just 15 years ago. But the groundside equipment the Army uses, we still have plenty of that sitting in storage.

So china having a bigger navy doesn't bother you? What about all the cuts he made to the navy?

 

[frigidweirdo]

Does the fact Biden gave so much to Ukraine moneywise that we wouldn't be ready for an armed conflict with China? Has he weakened the military?

China isn't going to attack the US. They know it wouldn't go well...