[Don_Ret_USAF]

You are so right PATHETIC. Go to RT.com and to China CCTV (Its in English). Look at all the military on display for the 70 yr anniversary of the end of the War II is Asia. It is being held in China. 17 countries are in attendance for the celebration. The Flying Tiger pilots have been invited for there role in defending China during World War II. A lot of new stuff, military will be shown ( they say 80% never seen before). It may not be the quality but the quantity that will hurt us in any conflicts. Look back on history. Our B-17 bombing raids. No matter how many flack guns and fighters filled the skies, many Bombers made there delivery and returned home. Yes, we paid a price for it in lives lost and material. But it lead to the end of the WAR. Our military equipment is just not enough to combat the mass armament because of our limited fighting material. Our manufacturing can not match, what we did during WWII. I will leave it here.
Don

[pierrem15]

This is, in a way, Bush's fault-- he insisted on fighting two wars while using up our leftover Cold War stockpiles and did nothing to plan or acquire replacement equipment.

Look at the pathetic state of the services: the Navy not only has too few ships, but no new proven designs ready to be built (even if we had the shipyards to build them) and no clear mission; both the Navy and the Air Force are stuck with the F35, which I hope can be made to acquire adequate performance, the Army is stuck with it's Cold War equipment, which (luckily) appears adequate for the moment, assuming training and maintenance budgets are beefed up.

Meanwhile, from Eastern Europe to South Korea to the Middle East to the South China Sea we have commitment after commitment waiting to drag us into a major war that we no longer have the means to fight. It's like 1940 all over again.

[PGalt]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[Leaning Right]

It may not be the quality but the quantity that will hurt us in any conflicts.

Good point. Consider Nazi Germany vs. Soviet Russia during WW II. The Germans had the quality, such as the magnificent Panther tank (6000 built). The Soviets had the quantity, tens of thousands of the cheaper, but rugged T34. We all know how that turned out.