U.S. slapped with a ‘D’ grade for defense innovation and modernization: Scathing report reveals why the Pentagon is struggling to gain on China and why Congress gets a ‘F-‘ for failing to fund new military tech

The Pentagon is struggling to modernize and innovate defense technologies to gain a “competitive advantage” over China and other adversaries, a damning “report card” has revealed.

The Ronald Reagan Institute’s second annual report shows that the US must better coordinate its government, private sector and military or risk embarrassment on the world stage.

It was put together by leading defense experts who handed out a series of B’s, C’s, D’s and even one F-.

The report card, first obtained by DailyMail.com, rates the US government in 10 key areas to assess the ‘National Security Innovation Base’ (NSIB) as America’s military, economic and technological advantage over China diminishes.

It was first designed in 2023 to measure the ‘collective impact’ of the NSIB’s ‘critical but largely uncoordinated ecosystem’.

It then makes a series of recommendations for improvement so that the US can more efficiently combat its geopolitical enemies.

According to the report card, the US “continues to stand out as a global leader in innovation, with a vibrant and dynamic private sector.”

But the identified weaknesses “remain as areas of serious vulnerability that undermine our competitiveness and risk leading to U.S. military inferiority.”

Government initiatives lack the “funds and known programs to support them,” due to budget problems and “appropriations dysfunction” in Congress.

That creates an inability to “translate innovation into capabilities,” the report said.

The lowest grade – a modest ‘F-‘ score – was awarded to the government for failing to provide ‘sufficient and stable financing’ for new technologies.

The report specifically states that the “lack of action from Congress” “limits progress on important initiatives.”

In particular, the lack of a budget for the 2024 financial year resulted in ‘significant development delays for priority programmes’.

One example is the lack of funding for new “collaborative fighter aircraft,” the report notes.

Next, Congress’ commitment to “scale up critical technology” is questioned based on funding levels.

This includes how innovation budgets were not “materially changed” in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024.

Congress has not yet reached an agreement with the White House on the next six funding bills — including defense. And the government could be headed for another government shutdown on Friday if the six agencies are not appropriated by midnight.

According to Rachel Hoff, policy director at the Ronald Reagan Institute, the purpose of the F grade was “to say, look, Congress is going in the wrong direction, especially when it comes to providing stable, timely appropriations.”

The report comes at a critical time as the US struggles to compete with its biggest enemy China other bad actors, including Iran and Russia.

According to the annual Reagan National Defense survey released late last year, 51 percent of Americans think China is the “greatest threat to the U.S.”

An overwhelming number of Americans (77 percent) consider China an enemy, while only 15 percent consider the communist state an “ally.” And 42 percent of respondents consider China a “strong” enemy.

That’s a stark difference from 2018 results, which showed that only 55 percent of Americans viewed China as an enemy and 38 percent as an ally.