India, June 23 -- In the sanitised, high-stakes briefing rooms of the Pentagon, the calculus of a potential conflict with China is often framed through the prism of platforms such as the reach of carrier-based aircraft, the stealth of next-generation submarines, and the blistering speed of hypersonic missiles.

Yet, beneath the strategic veneer of the "Pacific Pivot," a stark and uncomfortable reality is emerging from the bowels of the defence industrial base. According to a landmark study by the RAND Corporation, the United States Navy, the world's most formidable maritime force, possesses neither the logistical framework nor the industrial muscle to repair battle-damaged warships in the event of a high-intensity war with the People's Li...