US 'could lose a war against China or Russia'

The United States could lose in a war against either China or Russia, defence officials have warned.

A report commissioned by Congress, and compiled by a dozen former top Democratic and Republican officials, suggested the US was facing a "military crisis" and would struggle to conduct more than one war at a time.

The report said: "America's military superiority, the hard-power backbone of its global influence and national security, has eroded to a dangerous degree.

"It might struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia. The United States is particularly at risk of being overwhelmed should its military be forced to fight on two or more fronts simultaneously."

Congress had tasked the National Defense Strategy Commission with looking at Donald Trump's sweeping National Defense Strategy.

The panel found that authoritarian nations like China and Russia were pursuing buildups aimed at "neutralising US strengths".

A US focus on counter-insurgency operations in recent years had caused stagnation in areas including missile defence, cyber warfare, and anti-submarine warfare.

The report concluded: "Many of the skills necessary to plan for and conduct military operations against capable adversaries, especially China and Russia, have atrophied.

"The convergence of these trends has created a crisis of national security for the United States."

It lambasted "political dysfunction and decisions made by both major political parties," especially budget control measures implemented in 2011.

The report said Mr Trump's strategy, focusing on Russia and China instead of counter-insurgency, meant the Pentagon was moving in the right direction, but it "too often rests on questionable assumptions" and left unanswered critical questions about how the US would  "meet the challenges of a more dangerous world"".

The Pentagon's annual budget of more than $700 billion is far more than Russia and China combined, but it was still "clearly insufficient," the report warned.

It said the US would not be able to "defeat a major power adversary while deterring other enemies simultaneously".

The commission recommended an annual increase of three to five per cent in the defence budget. A Pentagon spokesman said: "It's a stark reminder of the gravity of these issues and a call to action."

Mr Trump's administration significantly increased military spending for 2018 and 2019, but has been considering possible cuts after that.

The US president has also consistently demanded that other Nato nations pay for more of the cost of the military alliance.