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Let me see if I can explain this without just disagreeing with you, because you make some valid points?

Because there are usually decades between wars, everything surrounding military procurement is based upon a set of assumptions, with very little actual empirical performance date to rely on for accuracy.

Now with the two Iraq wars, Kosovo, Afghanistan and other conflicts, military planners are better able to determine needed force levels in the future. One thing that is clear, is that we have WAY TOO MUCH weaponry that is either obsolete, outmoded, too old, or just plain ineffective.

Unfortunately, a lot of that weaponry is providing thousands of jobs (and votes) within the Military Industrial complex. You are going to see hundreds of thousands of people put out of work in the next 10 years because their companies were making weapons that we just don't need.

People think we need unmanned aircraft, but don't consider that we can now sling a JDAM over 40 miles and shack a target with a 20-to-30 year old airframe. We've got the big laser coming on line next year, in addition to lots of other new stuff.

The military is trimming the fat because we dont need it, much more so than because the money needs to go elsewhere. The overall budget has increased, but the priorities have changed.

The days of warfare through attrited forces is over. We are going to be light fast and deadly, with no more lumbering big weapons that require all kinds of logistical support. A lot of money is going into rebuilding our intelligence services, so we can have a better idea of what the enemy is doing.

China's military build up is really ridiculous when you look at it, because they are just building targets for the weapons we already have.

I can agree with most of that. And I work in that complex so in a way I am shooting at my own foot. There are a lot of dollars going to R&D and priorities are constantly being changed. Not much point in me pointing that out since it is nothing you don't know. I would disagree on the unmanned requirement though. UAVs are really proving their worth in the war on terror. Plus they are fairly small and cheap. Especially cheap to operate since you don't need as much training. As I have pointed out above I don't think they will ever (or anytime soon) be a replacement but I think we do need some more development there. Small craft with really long loiter times able to destroy pop up targets very quickly are very handy in the war on terror. They have already been looking at putting lasers and other directed energy weapons on UAVs so that is not a alternative but a compliment.