China to have 1500 nukes by 2035. The drumbeat of war can no longer be ignored or discounted...

 via Reuters

China will likely have a stockpile of 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 if it continues with its current nuclear buildup pace, according to a report released by the Pentagon on Tuesday.

The figure underscores mounting U.S. concerns about China's intentions for its expanding nuclear arsenal, even though the projections do not suggest China is accelerating the pace of its already-brisk warhead development.

Here 

Let me get this out the way.  About half (maybe more) will say I'm a conspiracy theorist on this.  SO BE IT!

I can hear the drumbeat of war and it can no longer be discounted or ignored.

Do you realize that this is the FOURTH (4th) story this week that points to China having a numerical superiority to our most vaunted parts of our military?

Airpower.

China has more J-20's than we have F-22's.

Sea Power.

China will have 400 ships by 2025 (battle force ships which doesn't include their Naval Militia or Coast Guard).

Nukes.

China will have 1500 by 2035.

I don't know what's going on in Europe (I'm sure the focus is on Ukraine/Russia conflict), but here in the US, if you follow the news then I think its pretty undeniable that they're prepping  citizens for war.

We have a problem though.

Our forces aren't ready.  Our homeland isn't ready.  Our industry isn't ready.  Our leadership isn't ready.

It's almost like everyone can see the train coming but no one is setup to deal with the crash/clash.

The reality is stark but I've talked about it enough on this blog.

1.  America can't be world police.  We are going to have make hard choices about who we decide to "lend" our forces to.  Certain allies must be told the bad news that they're gonna have to muddle thru without US troops on the ground, air or at sea.

2.  We've got to get a civil defense program going.  We have to harden the homeland against Chinese saboteurs/commandos and fifth columnist.

3.  We need to start today hunting down spies, limiting the attendance of foreign students (Chinese) in our places of higher education and carefully monitor Chinese nationals in all areas of research/manufacturing.

4.  We've got to get serious about drones.  Air and sea that have the ability to multiply combat power.  Recon is no longer enough. We need missile truck drones in the air and at sea that can quickly add to our available firepower WITHOUT worrying about the loss of the air vehicle or boat.

5.  The culture war in the military needs to end.  It has to be about warfighting all the time.  We don't have the luxury of niceties.  We're rapidly approaching nut crunching time.

6.  Combatant Commanders need to be put in a cage.  Drawing forces for "reassurance" missions or useless exercises should be a thing of the past.  

7.  Increase the defense budget but WASTE has to be stomped out with religious fervor.  We should pivot back to evolutionary development with leap ahead tech coming only when its READY!

I'm sure there is more but one other thing that I haven't posted about is still happening.

China is still penetrating Taiwan airspace on an almost daily basis. It sucks to say it but those airmen have to be getting worn down by all the alerts.

A few more months and they'll stop sending up aircraft.

Be advised ya'll.

I think we've entered the time of MAX vulnerability for the US. Like a dragon stalking a wounded animal, China is circling us and assessing whether we've become weak enough to be taken easily.

A President dealing with Alzheimers, a Congress and people that are hopelessly divided and a raging war in Europe, all coupled with a limited attention span by the average American citizen and even I can sense our weakness.

The Pentagon updated their estimate of when China could strike to within the next two years?

What do you think....Summer of 2024?  Right in the middle of our presidential contest, the war lingering on in Europe and probably some other unforeseen drama happening at home?

Yeah.

I give it another year max.