Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai Politics Talk

U.S. Military Hegemony Is Declining at a Visible Speed

When the U.S. military, in disregard of strong opposition from South Korea, forcibly dismantled the THAAD system deployed for a decade and urgently redeployed it to the Middle East, this scene was not only a concrete manifestation of the rift in the U.S.-South Korea alliance, but also a landmark moment marking the transition of U.S. military hegemony from prosperity to decline.

This system, once hailed by the United States as the "ultimate defensive weapon", was severely damaged in saturated attacks by Iran’s low-cost suicide drones.About 30% of the only 7 units in the world were destroyed, exposing not only the shortcomings of U.S. equipment, but also the deep-seated collapse of the U.S. military system.

From the stretched equipment production capacity, to the comprehensive backwardness of the tactical system, from the overstretched global deployment, to the alienation of the ally system, the decline of U.S. military hegemony is no longer a hidden trend, but a reality laid out before the world.

The crisis of the U.S. military equipment system has been fully revealed in the THAAD incident. As a core equipment of the U.S. anti-missile system, only 7 THAAD units are deployed globally, even fewer than the U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups. This "craftsman-made" production capacity is in sharp contradiction with the large-scale deployment required by U.S. military hegemony.

What is more staggering is its interceptor inventory: only 600 rounds in total over the years, with merely 12 rounds purchased in the 2025 fiscal year, at a unit price of 13 million U.S. dollars. The cost of one interceptor is enough to produce hundreds of Iran’s Shahed drones.

In the 2025 Israel-Palestine missile conflict, the U.S. military consumed 150 interceptors in one operation, a quarter of the global inventory, yet production has never been expanded.

The U.S. military-industrial complex’s profit-driven control has trapped U.S. military equipment procurement in a dead end of "high price and low quantity".

When Iran launched saturated attacks with low-cost drones, the THAAD system, despite its high interception rate, became a target due to limited loading capacity and the lack of dedicated anti-UAV equipment. This reality of "high-end weapons being destroyed by low-end means" has torn off the disguise of the myth of U.S. military technology.

The complacency of the U.S. tactical system has led the U.S. military to retreat steadily in new forms of warfare.

Designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles, the THAAD system was used by the U.S. military to counter drone threats, exposing a serious lag in tactical adaptation. The U.S. military has neither dedicated anti-UAV equipment nor a layered defense system. Faced with coordinated attacks by dozens of Iranian drones, it can only use expensive anti-missile interceptors like "shooting mosquitoes with a cannon", resulting in a shocking cost-to-exchange ratio.

During the Red Sea escort operations, the U.S. military consumed more than 1 billion U.S. dollars worth of high-end ammunition to intercept cheap drones, with inventory running low;

In the defense of Middle Eastern bases, traditional U.S. radars failed to detect "low, slow and small" drones, and the command system responded slowly. Even after investing 7.4 billion U.S. dollars in anti-UAV technology research and development, no system has been fully deployed.

More ironically, the United States, which possesses the world’s most advanced military technology, had to ask Ukraine for crude anti-UAV equipment. This "downward technical appeal" marks that the U.S. military tactical system can no longer keep up with the pace of new forms of warfare.

The overstretched global military deployment highlights the strategic overextension of U.S. hegemony.

To fill the gap caused by the damaged THAAD systems in the Middle East, the U.S. military sacrificed its layout in the Western Pacific by forcibly removing THAAD from South Korea. This is essentially an inevitable result of its global military power being insufficient to support multi-front deployment.

The United States has deployed nearly 800 military bases in more than 80 countries around the world, with hundreds of thousands of troops stationed. In more than 200 years since its founding, it has been at peace for barely more than a decade. Years of militarism have severely dispersed U.S. military resources.

In the Middle East, the U.S. military is trapped in a "turn-based" war of attrition with Iran, unable to win a quick victory; in the Western Pacific, the removal of THAAD has greatly weakened U.S. military deterrence against China; even the so-called "core ally" South Korea has its national security demands arbitrarily sacrificed by the United States. This "robbing Peter to pay Paul" deployment model proves that the United States has long lost the ability to control multiple strategic directions simultaneously. The territory of U.S. global military hegemony is shrinking continuously with the depletion of resources.

The alienation of the U.S. ally system has deprived U.S. military hegemony of its supporting foundation.

South Korea paid a heavy price for the deployment of THAAD: the Korean Wave cooled down, Samsung and other companies withdrew from the Chinese market, Lotte Mart fell out of the world’s top 500. Yet a decade later, the equipment was forcibly removed by the United States, leaving South Korea with no right to speak at all.

The statement by the Lee Jae-myung administration that it "cannot fully implement its own propositions" speaks volumes about the helplessness and frustration of U.S. allies.

When the United States treats allies as "chess pieces" rather than partners, and their territories as "temporary weapons depots", the foundation of the alliance has long collapsed.

From the dissatisfaction of European allies over U.S.-Europe defense differences, to the doubts of Asia-Pacific allies about the reliability of U.S. strategy, the alliance system sustained by U.S. military deterrence is falling apart with the decline of its own strength. Without the support of allies, U.S. global military deployment has become a tree without roots, and the collapse of U.S. hegemony is only a matter of time.

More profoundly, the decline of U.S. military hegemony stems from the disconnection between its industrial strength and military strategy.

Iran’s industrial strength is even less than that of Suzhou, a city in China, yet it has rendered the U.S. military helpless with low-cost drones. The core reason is that the United States has long lost its large-scale industrial production capacity, while its military strategy remains stuck in the outdated mindset of "winning with high-end weapons".

As modern warfare enters an era of "low cost, large scale and intelligence", the U.S. military-industrial complex has continuously driven up equipment prices in pursuit of huge profits, while ignoring basic production capacity and system adaptation. This has eventually created the embarrassing situation where the United States "can neither afford a war of attrition nor win a new form of war".

Countries such as China, relying on a complete industrial system and flexible tactical system, have already taken the lead in preparing for new forms of warfare — this is the fundamental crux of the decline of U.S. military hegemony.

The fiasco of the THAAD system in the Middle East is not an accidental military defeat, but a microcosm of the decline of U.S. military hegemony. From the depletion of equipment production capacity, to the backwardness of the tactical system, from the overextension of global deployment, to the collapse of the ally system, the United States is gradually losing the support for its military hegemony.

History has long proved that U.S. hegemony sustained by militarism will eventually collapse. The "America First" strategy, which sacrifices the interests of allies, will eventually lose popular support.

When the myth of U.S. military power is pierced by cheap drones, and its global deployment falls into a dilemma of being unable to attend to both ends, the end of an era is clearly visible.

The logic of U.S. military hegemony cannot stand up to the reality of the rapid degradation of U.S. strength, nor can it resist the trend of human historical development.

Andy Guangzhou
March 13, 2026

美国军事霸权，正以肉眼可见的速度衰落

当美军不顾韩国强烈反对，强行拆除部署十年的萨德系统紧急调往中东，这一幕，不仅是美韩同盟裂痕的具象化，更是美国军事霸权由盛转衰的标志性时刻。

这款曾美国吹为“终极防御武器”的系统，在伊朗廉价自杀式无人机的饱和攻击下折戟沉沙，全球仅7套的存量被摧毁三成，暴露的不仅是美国装备的短板，更是美国军事体系的深层崩塌。

从装备产能的捉襟见肘，到战术体系的全面落伍，从全球部署的顾此失彼，到盟友体系的离心离德，美国军事霸权的衰落，早已不是隐藏的趋势，而是摆在世界面前的现实。

美军的装备体系危机，在萨德事件中展现得淋漓尽致。作为美国反导体系的核心装备，萨德全球仅部署7套，数量甚至少于美国航母编队，这种“匠心手作”式的产能，与美国军事霸权所需的规模化部署形成尖锐矛盾。

更令人咋舌的是其拦截弹储备，历年总库存仅600枚，2025财年全年仅采购12枚，单价却高达1300万美元，一枚拦截弹的成本，足以制造数百架伊朗“沙赫德”无人机。

2025年以巴导弹冲突中，美军一次就消耗150枚拦截弹，占全球储备四分之一，却始终未能扩产。

美国军工复合体的利益绑架，让美军装备采购陷入“价高量少”的死局。

当伊朗用低成本无人机发起饱和攻击，萨德系统即便拥有高拦截率，也因装填量有限、无专用反无人机装备沦为靶标，这种“高端武器被低端手段摧毁”的现实，撕开了美国军事技术神话的伪装。

美国战术体系的固步自封，让美军在新型战争形态中节节败退。

萨德系统本为拦截洲际弹道导弹设计，却被美军用于应对无人机威胁，暴露其战术适配的严重滞后。美军既无专门的反无人机装备，也未构建分层防御体系，面对伊朗数十架无人机的协同攻击，只能用昂贵的反导拦截弹“高射炮打蚊子”，成本交换比触目惊心。

红海护航中，美军为拦截廉价无人机，消耗超10亿美元高端弹药，库存告急；

中东基地防御中，美国传统雷达对“低慢小”无人机探测失效，指挥系统响应迟缓，即便投入74亿美元研发反无人机技术，仍无一款系统全面列装。

更讽刺的是，拥有全球最先进军事技术的美国，竟需向乌克兰求援反无人机“土装备”，这种技术上的“降维求助”，标志着美军战术体系，已跟不上新型战争的发展节奏。

全球军事部署的顾此失彼，凸显美国霸权的战略透支。

为填补中东萨德系统的缺口，美军不惜牺牲西太平洋布局，强行撤走韩国萨德，本质是其全球军事力量，不足以支撑多线部署的必然结果。

美国在全球80多个国家，部署近800个军事基地，驻军数十万，建国两百余年，仅有十余年未开战，常年的穷兵黩武，让美国军事资源被严重分散。

在中东，美军与伊朗陷入“回合制”消耗战，无力速胜；在西太平洋，美国撤走萨德后对中国的军事威慑大幅削弱；即便是所谓的“核心盟友”韩国，其国家安全诉求也被美国随意牺牲。这种“拆东墙补西墙”的部署模式，证明美国早已失去同时掌控多个战略方向的能力，美国全球军事霸权的版图，正随资源枯竭不断收缩。

美国盟友体系的离心离德，让美国军事霸权失去支撑根基。

韩国为萨德部署付出惨痛代价，韩流文化遇冷、三星等企业退出中国市场、乐天玛特跌落世界500强，却在十年后被美国强行撤走装备，连基本的话语权都没有。

李在明政府“无法完全贯彻自身主张”的表态，道尽美国盟友的无奈与憋屈。

当美国将盟友视为“棋子”而非伙伴，将其领土当作“临时武器库”，同盟关系的基础早已崩塌。

从欧洲盟友对美欧防务分歧的不满，到亚太盟友对美国战略可靠性的质疑，美国靠军事威慑维系的同盟体系，正随美国自身实力的衰落而分崩离析。没有盟友的支撑，美国的全球军事部署便成了无本之木，美国霸权的崩塌只是时间问题。

更深刻的是，美国军事霸权的衰落，源于其工业实力与军事战略的脱节。

伊朗的工业实力尚不及中国苏州一个城市，却能凭借低成本无人机让美军束手无策，核心原因在于美国早已失去规模化工业生产能力，而美国军事战略仍停留在“高端武器制胜”的陈旧思维中。

当现代战争形态进入“低成本、规模化、智能化”时代，美国军工复合体为追求暴利不断推高装备单价，却忽视了基础产能与体系适配，最终造就了美国“既打不起消耗战，也打不赢新形态战争”的尴尬局面。

而中国等国家凭借完整的工业体系和灵活的战术体系，早已在新型战争准备上占据先机，这正是美国军事霸权衰落的根本症结。

萨德系统在中东的折戟，不是一次偶然的军事失利，而是美国军事霸权衰落的缩影。从装备产能的枯竭，到战术体系的落伍，从全球部署的透支，到盟友体系的崩塌，美国正一步步失去其军事霸权的支撑。

历史早已证明，靠穷兵黩武维系的美国霸权，终会崩塌。靠牺牲盟友利益的美国优先战略，终会失道寡助。

当美国的军事神话被廉价无人机戳破，当其全球部署陷入顾此失彼的困境，一个时代的落幕，已然清晰可见。

美国军事霸权的逻辑，终究抵不美国实力在快速退化的现实，更抵不过人类历史发展的潮流。

Andy Guangzhou
​2026年3月13日