During a recent talk, Marine Brig. Gen. Mark Clingan warned that the US military must learn the right lessons from the war in Ukraine or it could be setting itself up to fail in any conflict with China over Taiwan, The Epoch Times reported.
While speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC on Monday, Clingan said the US military must adjust its strategies based on the performance of Russian and Ukrainian forces to avoid learning the wrong lessons.
Clingan, the deputy commanding general of the US Marine Corps Combat Development Command, explained that in the war in Ukraine, “we have seen uncontested logistics.” He said the logistics in a conflict in the Pacific would be “held at a constant threat.”
Clingan defined logistics as a “pacing warfighting function,” explaining that to get to the fight, “you’re going to have to fight.” He said the Marine Corps is engaged in a “huge modernization” effort designed to learn the right lessons from Ukraine to prepare for a possible conflict with China.
He said one central lesson learned from the fight in Ukraine is that the industrial base in the United States “may not be sufficient” in “the coming conflict.” He said a single shipyard in China produces more ships in one year than every shipyard in the United States combined.
Additionally, Clingan said the US must do a better job in preparing the country for the reality of “total war” in which airfields, ports, and depots are targeted.
According to T.X Hammes from the National Defense University, one other important implication of the war in Ukraine is that the modern military must put a premium on its “ability to integrate new technologies.”
For example, Hammes cited the decision by the Marines and the US Army to experiment with using drones as spotters to direct grenade launchers and machine gun fire. According to Hammes, the payoff of learning from how Ukraine utilized drone warfare has been “adjusting fire and providing intelligence to commanders.”
Hammes said in the next war, the US should integrate drones with precision munitions to better target and kill the enemy. He explained that for the cost of one M1A2 tank, the military could purchase one thousand Drone 40s.
