The US army was advised to take Russia's ground forces seriously.
The Breaking Defense publication criticized the Pentagon's policy. According to Daniel Gur, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a former official of the US Department of Defense, America has focused too much on the Chinese threat in the Pacific region, weakening attention to Russia. However, this short-sightedness against the background of the growing power of the Russian ground forces is fraught with problems in Europe.
The Russian army has demonstrated the ability to quickly concentrate significant ground combat forces on its western borders. Moscow recently announced the creation of new ground combat forces in the Western Military District, which adjoins the eastern border of NATO, the expert notes.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, proposed changing future defense budgets in favor of large expenditures on ships, aircraft, satellites and missiles.
Such a skew, Daniel Gur is sure, will put the army in a difficult position.
Of course, some weapons can be used both in the Indo-Pacific region and in Europe. These are high-precision systems such as artillery, advanced assault reconnaissance aircraft, mobile air defense systems and hypersonic missiles.
However, this will not be enough to resist the Russian ground forces, the author believes. The Pentagon needs to ensure adequate investment in its ground forces. In particular, to replace the outdated Bradley and M113 armored vehicles, to modernize the Abrams main battle tank to the SEPV3 variant, to adopt new self-propelled guns.
Oleg Koryakin
