K1052
Elite Member
- Aug 21, 2003
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Current systems require specialized components, especially semiconductors. So, you just can't take a Ford plant and convert it over to military production as was the case in WWII. In addition, we are no longer the industrial giant that we were back then.
Anyway, all these figure on conventional army weapons belies the fact that our strategy is to achieve total air dominance, bomb the hell out important target with fighters and then send in the army, if need be. If we are just looking to degrade a countries military - and maybe bag some HVTs, the Airforce and Navy + SOCOM forces can get that done. For instance - why would we want to put boots on the ground in Iran. Why would we want to be stuck there for years?
Yeah the depth of our missile magazines and having the components on hand to surge production of some items is going to be way more important than making more planes. This applies to offensive munitions and defensive ones as well.
This is why there is a lot of pressure to move missiles into multi-year procurements to secure stocks and keep expanded manufacturing lines warm.