Defense Drumbeat

Today, the House Armed Services Committee heard from the Service Vice Chiefs on the "State of the Military." To watch the hearing or read testimony click here. Below are excerpts from some of the stories identifying critical readiness shortfalls:

Outranged, Outgunned, Outdated: Gen. Daniel Allyn, Army vice chief of staff of the Army, said the service is "outranged, outgunned, outdated" and -- under budget caps this year -- will have to reduce its size, putting the lives and safety of soldiers at risk. "The most important actions you can take — steps that will have both positive and lasting impact – will be to immediately repeal the 2011 Budget Control Act," Allyn said in prepared testimony. Stars and Stripes

Less than Half Of The Navy's Aircraft Can Fly: Adm. William Moran, the vice chief of naval operations, says more than half of all Navy aircraft are grounded because they're awaiting maintenance or lack needed spare parts. The figure is even higher for the service's front line F/A-18 fighter jets, according to Moran. AP

"Antique" Aircraft Shrink Our Advantage: "advantage over potential adversaries is shrinking." Wilson [Vice Chief of Staff, USAF] said the average Air Force aircraft is 27 years old and more than half of the inventory would qualify for antique vehicle license plates in the state of Virginia. AP

Navy The Smallest and Least Ready: At Tuesday's hearing, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran said the Navy is the smallest and least ready it's been in years due to high demand of naval forces, funding cuts and consistent uncertainty about when Congress would fund the military. The service satisfies 40 percent of demand from regional combatant commanders. Defense News

The Airforce Is The Smallest Ever: Aircraft numbers have fallen from 8,600 in 1991 to 5,500. There are 55 fighter squadrons, down from 134. Fewer than 50 percent of the Air Force's combat forces are "sufficiently ready for a highly contested fight against peer adversaries — creating unacceptable risk for our airmen, our joint partners, and our nation." Defense News

Our Soldiers Will Arrive Too Late: "What it comes down to … we will be too late to need, our soldiers will arrive too late, our soldiers will require too much time to close the manning, training and equipping gap," Army Vice Chief Gen. Daniel Allyn said, adding: "The end result is excessive casualties to civilians and to our forces who are already forward stationed." Defense News

Only 3 of 58 Brigade Combat Teams Ready To Fight: Army Vice Chief Gen. Daniel Allyn said one-third of Army brigade combat teams (BCTs), one-fourth of combat aviation brigades and half of division headquarters are ready. Only three of 58 ready BCTs are considered ready to "fight tonight." Defense News

Flying Less Than When The Force Was Hollow: "At the very bottom of what we call the hollow force in the 1970s, pilots were flying 15 sorties a month, about 20 hours," Wilson said. "Today we're flying less hours and less sorties than the 1970s." Defense News

Marines Corps Will Stop Flying In July: For the Marine Corps, Assistant Commandant Gen. Walters said "we would stop flying in about July. All the flying in the Continental United States...all the training would cease without the supplemental and that includes the parts money and the flying hours money." Committee Video