US falling rapidly behind China in preparing for next war, 2 congressional panels hear

Pentagon’s red tape and its slowness to embrace new technologies leave allies like Britain, Australia, Japan and South Korea in the lurch

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The Pentagon, headquarters for the US Department of Defence, in Arlington, Virginia, has been accused of excessive bureaucracy and outdated procurement procedures. Photo: EPA-EFE

Mark Magnierin New YorkandRobert Delaneyin Washington

Published: 6:00am, 19 Sep 2024Updated: 6:18am, 19 Sep 2024

The US is falling rapidly behind China in preparing for the next war, which could come at any time, hamstrung by an unduly bureaucratic and decades-behind Pentagon and a public that only responds to crises, two key congressional panels heard on Wednesday.

Republicans and Democrats in both committees largely endorsed work by US President Joe Biden’s administration to establish new alliances such as the US-Britain-Australia military technology partnership, known as Aukus, and the recently formalised US-Japan-South Korea security cooperation.

However, the Defence Department’s outdated security and procurement procedures emerged as an obstacle, particularly to Aukus, prompting lawmakers from both parties to call repeatedly on Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell for help. The senior Biden official pledged to do so.

House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said Pentagon bureaucrats had not yet cleared technology transfers from the US to the alliance’s two members nearly a year after legislation passed that provides the department an exemption for such activity.

Republican congressman Michael McCaul of Texas speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington last week. McCaul has said America’s slow action with its allies has emboldened China. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

“The administration still maintains a lengthy excluded technology list that limits its effectiveness,” McCaul said during his hearing, citing “communications networks, naval acoustics and jet engines” as being among the advanced technologies that are being held up. “I believe it … undermines Congress’s intent.

“These are closest allies, ‘Five Eyes’ partners with whom we share our most sensitive intelligence,” he added. “The failure to advance and strengthen these partnerships directly correlates to emboldening” the Chinese government.