The U.S. military doesn’t just fight with troops—it fights with factories. And here’s the problem: America’s defense industry isn’t what it used to be. During World War II, the U.S. could churn out 50,000 planes a year. Today, producing just a few dozen advanced fighters can take years. Artillery shell production was so low that Ukraine support nearly drained the Pentagon’s stockpiles. Only recently did Washington scramble to ramp up output—and even then, it’ll take years to reach Cold War levels. Now imagine a conflict with China while Russia is still raging in Europe. Missiles, ships, drones—all needed at once. Can America’s industrial base keep pace, or will rivals exploit the very gap between our global promises and our actual production capacity? #Military #Defense