US general warns China is now a true military equal in any future war
May 1, 2026
Shutterstock.com
A US Marine general warns China is now a true military equal, with the capability to challenge the United States across every domain in a future conflict.
A senior US Marine Corps general has issued a stark warning about the balance of global military power.
China, he says, is no longer a “near-peer” — but a full equal capable of challenging the United States across all domains.
A shifting balance
Speaking at the
Modern Day Marine Expo in Washington, Lt. Gen. Stephen Sklenka said the scale of China’s rise is often underestimated.
“Don’t listen to this garbage about them being a near peer. They’re a peer because they rival us in nearly every single measure of national influence,” he said, according to The War Zone.
Sklenka pointed to China’s economic strength, industrial capacity and military modernisation as evidence that it can compete directly with the US in a future conflict.
Lessons from war
The general contrasted a potential conflict with China against the ongoing confrontation with Iran.
Even as a mid-tier power, Iran has managed to inflict significant damage through missile and drone attacks on US bases and allies across the Middle East.
That, Sklenka argued, highlights how much more dangerous a war with China would be — given its far greater resources and technological capabilities.
Industrial advantage
A key concern is China’s production capacity, which underpins its military expansion.
Sklenka said China’s shipbuilding output is estimated to be more than 200 times that of the United States, while its missile arsenal and nuclear stockpile are rapidly growing.
“They’re building a military designed to dominate the Pacific, and I believe ultimately beyond,” he said.
China is also investing heavily in emerging forms of warfare, including artificial intelligence, drone swarms and non-traditional battlefields.
A new kind of conflict
Future conflicts may not begin with conventional attacks, the general warned.
Instead, early strikes could involve cyberattacks on infrastructure, disinformation campaigns or drone operations targeting US bases — including those on American soil.
“These are going to be just as debilitating and just as strategically consequential,” Sklenka said, referring to non-kinetic attacks.
Bases on the front line
The warning comes with a call to rethink how US military installations are defended.
Sklenka argued that bases can no longer be treated as safe zones, but must be prepared as active “warfighting platforms”.
He called for stronger defences against drones, more resilient power systems and hardened infrastructure capable of operating under attack.
Preparing for what’s next
The broader challenge, he said, is adapting to a world where the US no longer holds uncontested military superiority.
“None of us in uniform today have ever had to operate in a world where a legitimate peer simultaneously contests us in every single domain,” Sklenka said.
For US planners, the message is clear: future wars — especially with China — will be more complex, more contested and far more dangerous.
A US Marine general warns China is now a true military equal, with the capability to challenge the United States across every domain in a future conflict.
www.dagens.com
.
