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re: 1990 US Desert Storm armed forces vs 2025 US armed forces: Who wins?

Posted on 8/13/25 at 12:49 pm to
Posted by Bayou Warrior 64
Member since Feb 2021
729 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 12:49 pm to
The 2025 military wins hands down easily. Technology is powerful. Size does not always matter. The Iraqis had a large military. We went thru them with minimal opposition. I would imagine a similar effect with 2025 US vs 1990 US. Technology, skill, and speed are hard to defeat. Those 3 elements (technology, skill and speed) are what makes Delta Force and the Seal Teams so hard to defeat.
Posted by Darth_Vader
A galaxy far, far away
Member since Dec 2011
72174 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 1:15 pm to
quote:

I’m curious to know how much the Ukraine war will shape how our military trains. No one really expected a drone-and-artillery-heavy trench warfare but, then again, that’s likely because they’re isn’t much of an air capability on each side.


Yeah. It’s kinda hard to take really good lessons from the war in Ukraine because both sides are so poor at coordination of combined arms, especially utilizing air assets (other than drones) in ground support. They can’t really even coordinate infantry and tank operations. And logistics is as foreign a concept to them as is algebra to my daughter’s pug. All these things are why that war has bogged down in stalemate for the past 2-3 years.
Posted by Obtuse1
Westside Bodymore Yo
Member since Sep 2016
30029 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 2:32 pm to
quote:

Put a full set of chem gear in a pile in front of both sides. First man to don said gear, clear his mask and be ready to fight in an CNB environment wins

Point to Desert Storm vets


The ODS vets (at the time) would have had no idea what you were talking about when you said CBRN; they would perk up if you said NBC, though.

Outside of actually being shot at MOPP 4 in the desert is one of the most miserable things in the military, except maybe taking off your mask in the "gas chamber" then going outside into August heat in a place like Bragg or Leonard Wood.
Posted by HeadCall
Member since Feb 2025
5715 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 2:37 pm to
What happens when everyone has nearly undetectable stealth fighter? Will we revert to old school dogfighting again?
Posted by CleverUserName
Member since Oct 2016
16287 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 2:51 pm to
quote:

So an F14 could not take out 3 5th Gen fighters in a dogfight?


Nope. 2. You need an F18 for the third.
Posted by Sam Quint
Member since Sep 2022
8048 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 2:57 pm to
2025 US military would defeat 1991 US miitary and they might not lose a man.
Posted by Fat and Happy
Baton Rouge
Member since Jan 2013
19485 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 3:00 pm to
As soon as the planes began to engage, the F-35 and F-22s would walk through the aircraft from 1990 with very little effort

Even ground troops from today have better weapons, gear, technology.

Drones from now days would dominate all artillery from the 90s
Posted by Sam Quint
Member since Sep 2022
8048 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 3:04 pm to
quote:

The F22s and F35s alone could down every aircraft we sent into the heart of Iraq in 1990 with ease. And they wouldn’t see it coming. And when you have air superiority.. you have battle superiority.

the term wouldnt be air superiority, it would be air dominance. nothing from 1991 would even be likely to get off the ground.
Posted by northshorebamaman
Cochise County AZ
Member since Jul 2009
37523 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 3:15 pm to
quote:

Army is half the size it used to be, and we carried 4 times as many top of the line (for the era) main battle tanks.
Facing modern armor, artillery, and airpower and coming with massive logistical tail I'm not sure a 4 to 1 advantage in obsolete armor actually is an advantage and honestly seems like a liability.
This post was edited on 8/13/25 at 3:44 pm
Posted by SECCaptain
Member since Jun 2025
1326 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 3:15 pm to
Intel, tech and air superiority are what matters. When those goes to shite, all bets are off. E.g. an unorganized Somali militia with 0 advanced military tech laid waste to the Rangers/Delta Force/Seals in Mogadishu
Posted by northshorebamaman
Cochise County AZ
Member since Jul 2009
37523 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 3:19 pm to
quote:

E.g. an unorganized Somali militia with 0 advanced military tech laid waste to the Rangers/Delta Force/Seals in Mogadishu
Wasn't that like 150 vs 5000? Laid waste?
Posted by Sam Quint
Member since Sep 2022
8048 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 3:22 pm to
quote:

unorganized Somali militia with 0 advanced military tech laid waste to the Rangers/Delta Force/Seals in Mogadishu

lol let's not get carried away. plus that wasnt anything approaching total war, which is what we are talking about here.

laid waste. lol, ok.
Posted by SECCaptain
Member since Jun 2025
1326 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 4:32 pm to
US SOF suffered 100 casualties >70% rate in 24 hours fighting a horde of guerilla insurgents with little to no training/coordination in an urban firefight, so yes I would say that's laying waste and is highly relevant to this thread as it demonstrates what can happen when tech/air superiority is neutralized/negated. Many of the Somali belligerents didn't even know how to properly fire a weapon, how would you value an SNA "soldier" relative to a counterpart in the US special forces, yet they achieved what was borderline unconditional surrender given the UN's retreat and near immediate evacuation of the region thereafter
Posted by Sam Quint
Member since Sep 2022
8048 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 5:26 pm to
because the mission wasnt to wipe out the Somali hordes, you moron.

please tell me how exactly the Somalis neutralized American tech and air superiority. i'm all ears.
Posted by SECCaptain
Member since Jun 2025
1326 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 5:47 pm to
You moron, I never said they did. What I did was reference an example of the most highly trained military units on the planet taking on a pseudo-street gang in CQB without air/tech superiority and the end result was one of the most embarrassing military ops in US/UN history

And technically, they did eliminate air support via RPGs...but given the timing of the attempted extraction + urban setting, most CAS weren't feasible due to potential collateral damage. Which is ironic because the HELO's mistakenly firing on Somali elder non-combatants is what led to the escalation in the first place
This post was edited on 8/13/25 at 7:56 pm
Posted by northshorebamaman
Cochise County AZ
Member since Jul 2009
37523 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 5:55 pm to
quote:

US SOF suffered 100 casualties >70% rate in 24 hours fighting a hordeof guerilla insurgents with little to no training/coordination in an urban firefight
And that was with little warning, enough supplies for a short snatch and grab mission, and being scattered around the AO in a mission that went sideways from the start. Oh, and regardless of the quality of their opponents there were thousands of them. What military would do a better job in the same exact situation?
Posted by Volvagia
Fort Worth
Member since Mar 2006
52910 posts
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:49 pm to
quote:

The Gulf War forces had exactly 1 platoon of Pioneers at their disposal and no anti-UAV capability other than 1990's era signal jamming.


Why do you believe C-RAM would be useless against them? It would be out of the traditional context but I can see them being useful in adapted tactics.
This post was edited on 8/13/25 at 10:52 pm
Posted by Sam Quint
Member since Sep 2022
8048 posts
Posted on 8/14/25 at 8:50 am to
quote:


You moron, I never said they did. What I did was reference an example of the most highly trained military units on the planet taking on a pseudo-street gang in CQB without air/tech superiority and the end result was one of the most embarrassing military ops in US/UN history

And technically, they did eliminate air support via RPGs...but given the timing of the attempted extraction + urban setting, most CAS weren't feasible due to potential collateral damage. Which is ironic because the HELO's mistakenly firing on Somali elder non-combatants is what led to the escalation in the first place

you're using it as an example of how our military was "laid waste" to by a group of guerillas in a discussion of how the 1991 US military would fare against the 2025 military. it's not even apples to oranges. it's like apples to Volkswagens. the American raiding force, a company sized element, was ambushed in Somalia and completely unprepared for fighting a regiment size force. you can make a million very legitimate points about planning, complacency, arrogance, unpreparedness, etc, but implying that the Somali hordes somehow neutralized the Americans in a straight up fight is ludicrous. the only people that neutralized American capabilities in Somalia were other Americans. if the mission had been to wipe out Mogadishu, there would have been nothing left and probably no American casualties at all.

This post was edited on 8/14/25 at 8:51 am
Posted by 2quik
Member since Sep 2024
264 posts
Posted on 8/14/25 at 10:16 am to
not a fair fight ..2025 can win with drone tech alone .
Posted by Sam Quint
Member since Sep 2022
8048 posts
Posted on 8/14/25 at 10:40 am to
quote:

2025 can win with drone tech alone .

No way. Every drone in the inventory couldn't carry enough payload to wipe out the entire 1990 military.
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