The U.S. military is too small to do the jobs it is being assigned and is burdened with equipment that has been worn out from two decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It can probably meet the demands of a single major regional conflict, but it would be hard-pressed to fight a multifront war against combined adversaries.
That’s the bottom line of the latest comprehensive review of the strength of the country’s armed forces, which The Heritage Foundation releases annually. At almost 600 pages, the 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength offers a stark analysis of where the nation’s armed forces stand as aggressive rivals such as China and Russia rebuild their forces at a breakneck pace.
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