How China Controls Critical U.S. Military Technology

How China Controls Critical U.S. Military Technology

GreatGameIndia

Retired U.S. Army Major General John G. Ferrari warns that the U.S. military is dangerously reliant on China for crucial supplies, including parts for missiles and fighter jets. This dependence could cripple America’s defense capabilities if China decided to cut off these supplies during a conflict. Despite efforts across multiple administrations, the U.S. still struggles to reduce this reliance, with over 40% of essential semiconductors coming from China. As tensions with Beijing rise, particularly over Taiwan, the urgency to address this vulnerability grows, highlighting the precarious state of America’s military readiness.

A retired army general has warned that China’s stranglehold on US military supplies leaves the West vulnerable to Beijing in the event of an all-out war.

In an exclusive interview, retired US Army Major General John G. Ferrari expressed ‘grave worries’ about America’s continued reliance on China to supply its military.

Chinese firms are heavily integrated into the United States defense systems, providing crucial technology and raw materials for everything from air-to-air missiles to fighter aircraft.

General Ferrari, who served as NATO’s deputy commander in Afghanistan, admitted that Beijing may undermine America’s ability to arm itself by shutting off supply lines.

‘If we were in a war with China and it stopped providing parts, we wouldn’t be able to build the planes and weapons we needed,’ he said.

In 2022, the Pentagon suspended deliveries of its flagship F-35 fighter jets after it was discovered that they contained a component made with a banned Chinese alloy

In 2012, the Senate Armed Forces Committee found that counterfeit parts from China were being integrated into the U.S. Army’s Stryker Mobile Gun (pictured above)

Retired U.S. Army Major General John G. Ferrari said he had ‘grave concerns’ about the American military’s ongoing reliance on China to equip its military

His stern warning comes as fears increase of a military conflict with China over Taiwan.

The retired commander, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, added: “We need to start to prepare our supply chains now for a potential war.”

A frightening assessment published earlier this year found that Chinese corporations had a grasp on 12 crucial technologies critical to US national security, including nuclear modernization, hypersonic, and space technologies.

The Pentagon-commissioned report, conducted by data analytics firm Govini, presented a harsh condemnation of the American armaments sector.

“U.S. domestic production capacity is a shriveled shadow of its former self,” the report stated.

“Crucial categories of industry for U.S. national defense are no longer built in any of the 50 states.”

Perhaps most concerning, Govini discovered that more than 40% of the chips that power Department of Defense (DoD) weapons systems are now sourced from China.

Advanced semiconductors are critical components of missile guidance systems, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

It has raised concerns that Beijing has been given a slew of weapons to undermine American defenses, ranging from implanting faulty chips in air-to-air missiles to inserting malware in DoD systems.

However, Ferrari warned that there would be no easy remedy.

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