Jim Inhofe warns U.S. military supremacy has degraded

The United States’ military forces are falling behind that of China and Russia, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee argues.

In an article in the Tulsa World paper, Sen. Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, writes that the U.S. isn’t investing enough in military innovation to keep up with competitors.

“We’re falling behind in many areas to China and Russia — not just advanced new weaponry, like hypersonic weapons, directed energy and AI — but also in terms of conventional capabilities,” Mr. Inhofe says.

The 2020 defense budget is expected to include an increase from the current FY2019 budget to $750 billion, a bump from the original $733 billion projection. Next year’s budget proposal is set to be released in the coming weeks.

Mr. Inhofe’s concerns follow the release of the National Defense Strategy which advises that “long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia… require both increased and sustained investment, because of the magnitude of the threats they pose to U.S. security and prosperity today, and the potential for those threats to increase in the future.”

“I believe we are in the most threatened position of my lifetime, and we must prioritize our defense capabilities to deter the threats we face from China and Russia,” Mr. Inhofe says.