These Six Facts Expose the American Military’s Coming Collapse

According to The National Interest, the gradual decrease in military spending by a whopping 25 percent over the last five years has led to erosion of the American armed forces. The news outlet made a chart of six top revelations by military authorities that point to the horrifying scale of problems the nation’s army is now facing.

Marine Corps’ Aircraft Grounded in Droves

The US Marine Corps revealed that two-thirds of the branch’s 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike jets had been grounded because of a lack of financing and equipment weariness. To keep the rest of the aircraft in service the Corps has resorted to "cannibalizing," which is the practice of taking out components of one multibillion-dollar jet to repair another one. This has resulted in a situation in which every serving pilot has only four hours of flight time per week instead of 30 a decade before that.

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, faces troubles that the military has long struggled to fix, including issues with onboard oxygen generation/filtration system, which if not fixed properly, could lead to the death of pilots.

Further, one hundred of the 147 Super Stallion helicopters have been grounded due to various technical problems.

Army Brigades Losing Tactical Efficiency and Shrinking in Numbers

As of 2015, only two-thirds of the Army brigades were ready for decisive actions due to budget slashes, according to the Army Vice Chief of Staff General Daniel Allyn. At the same time the US military contingent is shrinking in numbers that “increases the threats and danger to the United States,” Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno said.

By mid-2018, the authorities aim to shape an army of 450,000 soldiers that will be 20 percent smaller than the army in 2012.

Air Force Jets Being Refitted With Parts From Museum Planes

The Air Force’s B-1 Lancer bombers are being refitted with parts pulled out of museum jets to be kept in-service. The components of the F-16 Fighting Falcons are also actively used in repairing other F-16s that constantly need spare parts.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James unveiled that less than half of the branch’s forces are prepared for engaging in “a conflict…. where an adversary could shoot us down, interfere with us in some major way in space or cyberspace.”

The B-1 Lancer is 30 years old this year. - https://t.co/mHRShZRLVy #army #military pic.twitter.com/KdxPdcyqBR

— Army Complex (@ArmyComplex) May 19, 2016

The Navy’s Dying for More Ships

The US Navy is consistently seeing shortage of ships in their fleet. The budget shortfalls “forced the Navy to accept significant risk in key mission areas,” Admiral Jon Greenert admitted. Currently, the branch needs 350 battle vessels, but it only has 273.

Marine Corps’ Copters Keep Crashing

The average number of Marine Corps’ aircraft crashes has increased twice in a decade, resulting in a string of fatal accidents earlier this year. Over a hundred helicopters were grounded for additional technical checks afterwards.

Memorial at Marine Corps Base in Hawaii for 12 U.S. Marines who died in a helicopter crash last week. pic.twitter.com/pKcKJdCYJ8

— Honolulu Civil Beat (@CivilBeat) January 22, 2016

Ageing B-52s Called Back in Service Amid Lack of Alternatives

The Air Force has to throw into the fray B-52 bombers, which are more than half-a-century-old, to carry out anti-Daesh operations in the Middle East as the more modern, stealth-capable B-1 Lancers performed poorly in the same campaigns.