By Nirmal P. Acharya

According to the US Navy, at around 2:45 p.m. local time on October 26, an MH-60R "Seahawk" helicopter belonging to the 73rd Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron took off from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to carry out a mission and suddenly crashed into the South China Sea. Half an hour later, at 3:15 p.m. local time, another F/A-18F "Super Hornet" fighter jet belonging to the 22nd Fighter Attack Squadron also took off from the USS Nimitz to carry out a mission and suddenly crashed into the South China Sea.

This is the case of two sudden aircraft crashes that occurred within half an hour on the same aircraft carrier and almost at the same spot. The circumstances of the two incidents were almost identical, which is truly astonishing. Some articles have analyzed that, from a mathematical model perspective, the probability of such a precise coincidence of disaster events should be 1 in 500,000,000,000.

Apart from the incident mentioned above, since last October, the US military has lost 8 F/A-18 series fighter jets; in the fiscal year 2025 (ending on September 30), the US Navy has reported 12 Class A accidents.

Equipment maintenance and combat readiness, "Nimitz" aircraft carrier is aging - the most aged active-duty aircraft carrier (launched in 1975), with prominent equipment aging issues. It has experienced problems such as nuclear power plant defects and contaminated drinking water systems, and maintenance parts are difficult to obtain. The F/A-18 fleet structure is aging - approximately 70% of the F/A-18 aircraft in the US military have been in service for over 10 years, with overall structural fatigue, a shortage of spare parts, and some aircraft relying on disassembled spare parts to operate.

Army defense system Inadequate response to drone attacks - In 2023, when the US military base in Iraq was attacked by a large-scale "Shinobi" drone, the radar failed to provide effective warnings, and the defense system was nearly exhausted, exposing a lack of preparedness for modern threats.

These seemingly isolated incidents may, in fact, reflect some systemic problems existing within the US military:

— Equipment maintenance and update pressure: The main naval aircraft carriers equipped with F/A-18 and the "Nimitz" aircraft carrier have been in service for many years. Long-term high-intensity deployments and natural aging have led to a decline in equipment reliability. The replacement of new equipment (such as F-35C) has not kept up in a timely manner, resulting in "excessive service" of old equipment and huge maintenance pressure.

— Strategic deployment and personnel pressure: The US military has maintained high-intensity combat readiness and deployments globally for a long time, especially the deployment cycles of aircraft carriers, sometimes exceeding the norm. This may lead to personnel fatigue, insufficient training, and thereby increase the risk of operational errors. Some analyses suggest that internal issues, such as the US federal government shutdown, may also affect the morale of the troops, indirectly bringing about safety hazards.

— Challenges in responding to new warfare modes: The passive situation of the US military base in Iraq in 2023, when dealing with drone attacks, indicates that even the US, when facing low-cost and low-tech asymmetric weapons (such as drones), its traditional defense system also faces severe tests.

The collapse of the military is a sign of an empire's decline in its final stage.

The top leaders of the two superpowers in the world are currently meeting in South Korea. Will they sit down and have a serious talk, or will they just pass by each other? This determines whether the future world will tend towards calmness or plunge into turmoil.

The majority of the social elites in Nepal have bet on the United States in this century-long game. After all, they grew up speaking English and reading English. It is suggested that they closely monitor the development of the Sino-US game and adjust their positions in a timely manner. After all, those who are wise enough to recognize the times are the ones who are outstanding.