manqiangrexue
Brigadier
I wasn't thinking about seriously reducing the US force in that manner; the only known aircraft that has suffered so many maritime incidents that the attrition rate significantly reduced the inventory were Indian MiG-21.
But this is not a sign of marginal underinvestment; this is a sign that the US military is stretching its economy too thin and thus it's losing professionalism and reducing safety standards. This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of decay. American pilots already get significantly less flight hours compared to Chinese pilots due to maintenance budget constraints; if they get into a heated conflict with a power like China in the Asian theater, the accident rate from pushing aircraft to the limit of thier sorty rates is going to skyrocket.
On the other hand, China's military is truly showing what it's like to be able to afford being careful and meticulous with uncompromising maintenance protocols. Of the big 3, (China, Russia, USA) China has the lowest aircraft accident rate by far. In 2023 and 2024, China had no incidents and in 2025, we suffered the loss of one J-15, compared to 14 incidents with just the USN in 2025 and in 2023-4, the US was playing crash bingo, losing F-16, F-15, F-18, F-35 and F-22 all in just a few months. China is the only country that has never suffered a 5th gen aircraft crash even in prototype phase.
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