BACKGROUNDER
No. 3902 | MARCH 31, 2025
DOUGLAS AND SARAH ALLISON CENTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
This paper, in its entirety, can be found at https://report.heritage.org/bg3902
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Arming for Peace: Expanding
the Defense Industrial Base
and Arming Taiwan Faster
Brent D. Sadler
As Americans go about their daily lives
unmolested, the world is accelerating in
its change—much of it perilous to U.S.
national survival.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
On the back of a decades-long sus-
tained military build-up, China’s military
is increasingly confident and willing to
directly challenge the U.S.
The U.S. must restore ebbing national
deterrence and prevent a war in Asia—
while not ceding its democratic way of life
and prosperity for the next generations.
N
early four years ago, the Indo–Pacific Com-
mander, Admiral Philip Davidson, gave the
warning that the Chinese Communist Party
was preparing for a war with the U.S. by 2027.
1
Since
that time, too little meaningful progress has been
achieved to alter the military balance and deter China’s
leaders from acting on that goal—to defeat the U.S. and
subjugate Taiwan.
2
The urgency for real action cannot
be understated; as time goes by there are fewer options
available while the cost for real deterrence grows. Fail-
ing to act, however, could result in the most destructive
and consequential war the U.S. has ever had to fight.
An Increasingly Dangerous
World for America
As Americans go about their daily lives unmolested,
the world is accelerating in its change—much of it
