One of the reasons we are seeing a requirement for increases in defense spending is the US public's lack of willingness to see casualties in combat. Body bags are very bad press for any military commander. Because of that, we see the nation's military investing in things like F-22 fighters and stealth technology. Big dollar, high cost, high overhead systems that make big news when they drop bombs and get away unscathed.


If the US is going to continue to insist on the silly assed mission of "peace keeping" then we're going to need more weapon systems that can deliver effective strikes without putting troops at risk. The same holds true for future war fighting. Look at the Gulf War. It is still viewed as a video game with real planes. For every frame of footage showing a group of grunts running across the desert, you see a dozen frames of FLIR images showing laser guided bombs dropping through air vents and Hellfire missles swatting tanks.


The nation needs to decide what it wants. If they want to continue misusing the military in humanitarian and peace keeping missions, then they're going to need to spend the money on complex technologies to keep the soldiers from getting hurt. If they want a military which is intended to engage in warfare, then they need to restructure their budgets to provide training funds, training ammunition, workable boots for the Infantry, modern parachute technology for the Airborne, etc. Unfortunately boots and parachutes aren't billion dollar defense programs. They don't provide pork to a dozen congressional districts and get the congressdrones face on TV. What they do provide is adequate equipment for soldiers, airman, sailors and marines to do their job.


Throw away the F-22, replace each of them with something approaching 250 cruise missiles. Do the same with the B-2 fleet only then replace each of them with closer to 2500 cruise missiles. Get rid of the JSF and develop specific mission aircraft. Upgrade the A-10s and forget the stupid idea of using F-16s and F-15s as ground support aircraft. Upgrade the 15s and 16s to meet the avionic standards necessary to employ the AMRAAM to it's fullest extent and turn them back into fighters. If we need a limited range, tactical bomber, build one dedicated to that mission, throw the F-15E away and replace it with a dedicated Attack plane. Replace it with what the F-111 was originally intended to be.


Then replace all of the politicians and military commanders who want to put soldiers into police officer's jobs and nursing positions. When politicians want to committ troops to places like Kosovo, if there's not a war there, there's no business putting soldiers there. Same goes for Somalia, Haiti and every other piss trickle place the US has sent soldiers and warfighters to enforce the peace. It's a conflict of purpose for the troops and it does little but reinforce the public impression that our military can do its real job without anyone getting hurt. Of course, YMMV.