Pentagon reliant on Chinese suppliers and ‘not prepared' for war, report warns

South China Morning Post

14 hours ago

The US defence industrial base remains dependent on Chinese suppliers despite efforts to decouple – and that raises concerns over
war readiness , according to a report by data analytics firm Govini.
Chinese firms still made up 9.3 per cent of the primary contractors, or Tier 1 suppliers, involved in major US defence programmes across nine critical sectors in 2024, Govini said in its annual National Security Scorecard.
'The United States is not prepared for the war that we may have to enter if China said, 'today is the day',' said Tara Dougherty, chief executive of the defence acquisition information firm based in Washington.
Its researchers analysed US Department of Defence spending data in nine key areas – aviation, maritime, C4I (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence), mission support, nuclear, missiles and munitions, ground, missile defence and space.
They concluded that US supply chains were 'incredibly brittle' and that China, categorised as an 'adversarial' nation, was home to the most Tier 1 suppliers.
Questions have been raised over war readiness if the US enters a conflict with China. Photo: AP
According to the report, the missile defence sector had the most significant reliance on Chinese suppliers, who had a share of 11.1 per cent.