The U.S. has not developed a defense industrial base intended for a large-scale war of attrition in both Europe and the Middle East while meeting its own readiness standards," according to Elias Yousif, a fellow and deputy director of the Conventional Defense Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

"Both of those wars are extended conflicts, which was not part of the U.S. defense planning," Yousif said.