100 Million Dollar Toys

[NOIRTRASH]

John McCain got his ass shot outta the sky by a gook with a rock.

At 100 million a pop such toys wont go near trouble.

 

[Ms_Ann]

Nuclear tipped arrows?

http://i.imgur.com/OHLapQb.jpg

 

[colddiesel]

John McCain got his ass shot outta the sky by a gook with a rock.

At 100 million a pop such toys wont go near trouble.

Valid point. If you watch the news most days you could be forgiven for thinking that a Toyota Hi Lux pick up is the worlds most popular battleground vehicle. They can carry gear capable of knocking out a million dollar tank and prolly cost at most about $30,000 apiece.

 

[Rightguide]

John McCain got his ass shot outta the sky by a gook with a rock.

At 100 million a pop such toys wont go near trouble.

One thing to remember about today's expensive weapons is that they are force multipliers. The B-2, for instance, can carry 80 independently targeted smart bombs, Successfully engaging 80 separate targets. In the past, this might require squadrons of aircraft and multiple re-targeting. Recently 12 of the very best veteran F-15 combat pilots in the US Air Force were engaged and taken down by a single F-22, none of whom ever laid eyes or radar on their attacker in their airspace over the air combat maneuvering range at Nellis AFB.

 

[Parminderjeet]

I don't think princess was old enough to throw rocks back then.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Valid point. If you watch the news most days you could be forgiven for thinking that a Toyota Hi Lux pick up is the worlds most popular battleground vehicle. They can carry gear capable of knocking out a million dollar tank and prolly cost at most about $30,000 apiece.

I blame affirmative action. Nowadays np skills are required. The airplane flys itself and the girl goes along for the ride.

 

[colddiesel]

One thing to remember about today's expensive weapons is that they are force multipliers. The B-2, for instance, can carry 80 independently targeted smart bombs, Successfully engaging 80 separate targets. In the past, this might require squadrons of aircraft and multiple re-targeting. Recently 12 of the very best veteran F-15 combat pilots in the US Air Force were engaged and taken down by a single F-22, none of whom ever laid eyes or radar on their attacker in their airspace over the air combat maneuvering range at Nellis AFB.

All true but doesn't that miss the entire point? No matter how gee whiz the latest technical stuff is you haven't actually won until the foot sloggers move in, take over the civil administration and make the place work. Consider the Iraq wars; American firepower destroyed their forces in the blink of an eye - but the follow up was a stuff up. That's when the Toyotas come into their own with a 20 year civil insurrection.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

One thing to remember about today's expensive weapons is that they are force multipliers. The B-2, for instance, can carry 80 independently targeted smart bombs, Successfully engaging 80 separate targets. In the past, this might require squadrons of aircraft and multiple re-targeting. Recently 12 of the very best veteran F-15 combat pilots in the US Air Force were engaged and taken down by a single F-22, none of whom ever laid eyes or radar on their attacker in their airspace over the air combat maneuvering range at Nellis AFB.

In Vietnam I served with the 315rh Air Commando/Special Ops Wing. We sprayed Agent Orange. If we had sprayed AO over the rice the war woulda ended in a week. If we sprayed the poppies in Afghanistan the Mideast War would be over long ago.

 

[Rightguide]

All true but doesn't that miss the entire point? No matter how gee whiz the latest technical stuff is you haven't actually won until the foot sloggers move in, take over the civil administration and make the place work. Consider the Iraq wars; American firepower destroyed their forces in the blink of an eye - but the follow up was a stuff up. That's when the Toyotas come into their own with a 20 year civil insurrection.

Yes, but that was the result of political decisions to alter the military strategy into a nation-building fiasco. Look at the war with Iraq in a historical context. We lost more men in 36 days taking Iwo Jima than we have in the 14 years since the invasion of Iraq. That is because of the power of force multipliers in military technology. War cannot be fought without loss of life either military or civilian. These force multipliers made it possible for our troops to better survive the battlefield environment, as opposed to battles like Iwo Jima where an American was either killed or wounded every 2 minutes for 36 days straight.

 

[Rightguide]

In Vietnam I served with the 315rh Air Commando/Special Ops Wing. We sprayed Agent Orange. If we had sprayed AO over the rice the war woulda ended in a week. If we sprayed the poppies in Afghanistan the Mideast War would be over long ago.

Our campaign in Afghanistan should have been a punitive expedition only, a relentless destruction of the enemy, and his supporting infrastructure. Should have been in and out in less than a year leaving destruction in our wake as a monument to the folly of harboring enemies with designs against the American people.