Reply #18: I think that has merit [View All]

[Sherman A1]

If you look at the standoff aerial weapons of today, one has to ask do we really need a new manned bomber in the inventory? I think rather we need a new bomb truck which could easily be a converted airliner design of some type. (heck, a B-36 design would work just fine and really they looked sooooo cool).

As you mentioned a Gearing class design for the LCS? Well, taking a look wouldn't be a bad idea.

What griped me the most, was sending the guys to Iraq (which was it's own level of dumb idea) without adequete body armor or Hummers that had no protection. We could certainly dominate the skies and the seas, in the area, but could have done that with a single Gearing class and a P-51 (which also, looks sooo cool).

In my opinion there is too much "gee wiz" development and we end up with the wrong weapons for what we need at too high a price to the taxpayer and too high price in opportunity costs to our military. It won't be that very long before it' is unilateral disarmament because we simply can't afford the latest new spiffy thing that someone has their eye upon and can break it up into enough Congressional districts to make it a must have.

I want a strong defense, but the right defense and much less of it, I don't want a return to the 1930's for either our military establishment, but neither do I want it for the populace because we broke the bank buying systems that are so far advanced that we can't use them because we either cannot afford to lose them, they take up so much of the budget that we don't have what we really need to defend ourselves or they are simply the wrong thing for the wrong time.