First off, let's hope there isn't one; but a Rand analyst says "the U.S. gets its ass handed to it" in World War Three simulations. However, some simple changes could change that assessment.
Rand's David Ochmanek says U.S. forces are currently better suited to fight wars of the past.
"Which have done so well against adversaries such as Iraq, Serbia and Afghanistan over the years, are not very well equipped and postured to cope with challenges from more capable adversaries, specifically China and Russia."
Ochmanek says in computer simulations the Russians and Chinese destroy our jets on the ground and our ships at sea. But we can fix these issues if we make them a priority. He says we're susceptible to attacks on our stealth jets -- while they're on the ground -- and cyber warfare.
"Prosaic things like data links, communication systems that can operate in a jamming environment -- things of that nature. The technology to prevail in this kind of environment is there, we just need to make concerted investments in it."
Ochmanek says we spend three times as much as the Chinese on military items and if there is a World War Three, it's likely ten to twenty years away.