re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

quote:

---

There is a very old saying that artillery is the king of the battle field. That hasn't changed.

What has changed is two fold:
1) The US has allowed its manufacturing base to atrophy to the point where it is not capable of supporting sustained combat operations. During WW2, there were countless examples of factories retooling to pump out war materials. Those factories are all sitting overseas today.

All you have to do is get off the interstate and drive through the towns to see the remains of shut down manufacturing facilities.

2) The complexity of modern weapon systems makes replacing combat losses much more expensive and time-consuming. Even if we had the manufacturing base to convert to war time production, it would take years to bring it online...just what we're seeing with the attempts to ramp up artillery shell production.

In my opinion, the lack of suitable manufacturing capabilities is our biggest strategic risk today.

---

Been noticing this for years. At the outset of WWII, for example, we had 4 carriers in the Pacific with a total of 8 operational. Four years later, that number was in the 60 range. America had a huge industrial base to convert to war time production. We don't have that anymore.

An incident that sticks in my mind from years ago was the delay in post hurricane clean up in Florida due to shipping time for sheetrock and screws from China.