US military modernization in danger of ‘stalling out’: Army secretary
U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the budget stalemate is putting the military at risk as they look to invest in new technologies to improve the defense force.
“The Army has created tremendous momentum from a readiness as well as its modernization efforts and it’s in jeopardy of stalling out,” he told FOX Business Maria Bartiromo on Monday.
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Senate Democrats blocked a proposed defense spending bill for 2020 due to disagreements over the funding of President Trump’s border wall.
A crew chief of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter throws up a shaka as they fly on Oct. 31, 2019, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. (Sgt. Sarah D. Sangster/(U.S. Army )
Top officials at the Defense Department have warned in recent years that the Army is at risk of not winning a war against China or Russia. Although the Army has had “significant gains” and is in a position to put a “stiff resistance” up against any type of actions anywhere in the world, McCarthy said, it would bear consequences.
An aircrew with the 1st Battalion, 106th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the Illinois National Guard operates a CH-47 Chinook helicopter on July 26, 2019, at Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport, Wis. (Scott T. Sturkol/U.S. Army)
“It would come at a tremendous price from both blood and treasure in a fight against a near-peer competitor,” he said.
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The Army, over the last two years, has been in the process of updating weapons systems, he said, including helicopters, some of which are 45 years old. But the budget is critical in continuing the effort, he said.
“We need this two-year budget deal in order to maintain that edge so that we can win outright against any foe,” he said.
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