East Michigan News

On Wednesday, members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party engaged in a bipartisan simulation conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to evaluate the state of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base. The exercise focused on a hypothetical conflict involving Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific region.

The CSIS's Defense and Security Department experts guided lawmakers through scenarios aimed at exploring how Congress can work together to strengthen America's defense industrial base in preparation for potential conflicts. Chairman John Moolenaar commented on the simulation, stating, "In our tabletop exercise today, we walked through one simulation of what might happen in a worst-case scenario conflict with China and learned ways we can work together in a bipartisan manner to ensure that America is prepared to be the Arsenal of Democracy once more if called upon."

The simulation, set in 2026, revealed several weaknesses within the U.S. defense industrial base when faced with a conflict against China. Notable findings included rapid depletion of critical munitions such as LRASMs and JASSM-ERs for both U.S. and Taiwanese forces. Additionally, significant losses were projected for U.S. naval assets including aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as substantial damage to airpower capabilities.

Despite these challenges, China's defense industrial base was highlighted as being significantly more robust due to its superior shipbuilding capacity, which is 230 times greater than that of the United States.

The exercise also identified key challenges facing the U.S. defense industrial base: limited production capabilities for essential components like solid rocket motors and microelectronics; lengthy production timelines for vital munitions; insufficient stockpiles; workforce shortages; and slow acquisition processes not suited for wartime demands.