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sethnintendo said: Oops... Not sure how I got the F-22 and F-35 mixed up... My drone statement was a little exaggerated but there probably won't be another program for a manned fighter such as the F-35 in the future. The F-35 might be one of the last manned fighters for the USA. |
Psst, ok, that was read comprehension failure on my part then, I was talking about ATF program.
As for the military spendings... well, people comparing it to GDP might as well compare their penises against nearest telegraph pole -- different sizes for different purposes. GDP has little to do with it, strategic goals and military doctrine do -- and the latter are not necessarily proportional to GDP (especially if we're talking about the US GDP and its real size, given the topic of the thread if dollar will crahs after all -- here goes trillions worth chunk of GDP). If you're Simak's Puddly (an animal that seeks to destroy other living creatures only because they could pose a potential threat to it, that ironacally makes it an enemy to everyone) -- this is one level spendings, if your understanding of national defence is less broad and more... well, closer to national borders -- that's totally another story.
Since the biggest part of military spendings aren't R&Ds (even if they are overbudget) but maintance cost for multiple 'unconvential' (in less politically correct language -- colonial, not to be confused with original meaning of 'unconvential' -- nuclear) wars and operations including personell payment, it is obvious the current understanding of national defence is closer to imperialistic Puudly. Doubt it stays that way for too long though, it is about a time to think about some really national defence priorities like strategic nuclear deterrent -- things aren't too rosy there.
