The Pentagon has been running a series of exercises throughout the summer based on a hypothetical ground war with Russia which reveal that the U.S. would struggle to defeat Moscow.
Two defense officials who refused to be named told the Daily Beast that Washington is not ready for a sustained conflict.
“Could we probably beat the Russians today [in a sustained battle]? Sure, but it would take everything we had,” one defense official said. “What we are saying is that we are not as ready as we want to be.”