US Army Still Equipped With 1980s Weapons, Equipment - Ex-Vice Chief of Staff

Former Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Keane said that the US Army was still equipped with weapons designed and sometimes even manufactured in the 1980s and is losing its technological edge over other major powers.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Army is still equipped with weapons designed and sometimes even manufactured in the 1980s and is losing its technological edge over other major powers, former Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Keane said.

"Everything they are running around in is the 1980s Army," Keane told a meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday. "Our services need to be refreshed and everything needs to be refreshed."

The US Army’s current equipment could dominate terrorist groups and other non-state actors, but the military had already lost their technological edge against the armed forces of some other major powers, Keane stated.

"We are going to be fine if we just fight guys with rifles and RPGs and they need to be stopped… [However] we have lost… our space based advantage, all the advantages we had in the 1990’s: It’s gone… We are losing the tech edge we've enjoyed since World War II," he noted.

Keane also said Russia had a more modernized tank design than the United States and an air defense system that was good as any in the world.