The U.S. Army's heavy brigade gap leaves it vulnerable
The American army has too few brigades equipped with heavy equipment. As a result, very few units are prepared for full-scale warfare, giving their Russian and Chinese counterparts an advantage in firepower, according to an analysis published by Defense One.
Defense One published a critical analysis regarding the state of American land forces. It was prepared by Richard D. Hooker, Jr, an analyst for the National Security Council, a West Point graduate, and a former commander of an American brigade during the Iraq War.
Based on his combat experience, the practitioner assesses that the American army, in its current form, has too many light units and insufficient armored and mechanized forces. Richard D. Hooker, Jr notes that out of the 31 American brigades, only 11 are heavy units, equipped with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled artillery.
Another six American brigades are Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. Their name comes from the vehicle that predominates within them.
This vehicle is the Stryker—a wheeled platform primarily used as an infantry carrier (similar to the Polish Rosomak without a turret) and as a base for various specialized vehicles, including reconnaissance and fire support vehicles.
As Hooker notes, these vehicles are lightly armored, perform poorly in rugged terrain, and can be neutralized with handheld anti-tank weapons. Moreover, all the artillery in these brigades consists of towed howitzers, which are more vulnerable to enemy fire and require more time to set up and move compared to their self-propelled counterparts.
The author references experiences from exercises, stating that these units cannot withstand encounters with armored vehicles.
Too little firepower
The remaining 14 American brigades are light infantry formations—mobile and cost-effective, but with limited firepower. For example, Richard D. Hooker, Jr points to their artillery, which consists of 105 mm towed howitzers. While these are light and mobile, they have a shorter range and less effectiveness compared to Russian systems with 122 mm and 152 mm calibers, according to the author.
Hooker assesses that the promised increase in firepower for light units through various drones "raises serious doubts," and optimizing the army for Pacific operations is a mistake.
Advantage no longer exists
The author also points out that both Russian and Chinese counterparts have an advantage over American brigades in terms of firepower, due to a greater number of artillery systems and anti-tank weapons.
Summarizing his analysis, the author notes that the last high-intensity war in which the United States faced an enemy with numerous heavy units was over 30 years ago in Iraq (Operation Desert Storm), where the U.S. had "overwhelming superiority in all domains, which no longer exists."
