No. of Recommendations: 11
It’s been said that generals are always fighting the last war. The U.S. military-industrial establishment spends billions of dollars on extremely expensive heavy armaments.
The war in Ukraine showed how light, inexpensive drones coupled with on-the-ground intelligence can destroy conventional weapons (attack aircraft) even on Russian territory.
Russia has learned this lesson and is using their own drones.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/russias-alarming-drone...
Russia’s Alarming Drone Incursion Into Poland
NATO stopped it but at a huge financial cost—a dangerous asymmetry that imperils much of Europe.
By Jillian Kay Melchior, The Wall Street Journal
Officials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization congratulated themselves for stopping a Russian drone incursion into Poland last Tuesday night. NATO shot down the drones…
Over roughly seven hours, some 20 drones flew into Poland….
NATO still relies on scarce, expensive weapons to intercept plentiful, cheap ones. In starker terms: The West likely lacks a credible response to sustained large-scale drone attacks….
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte described how the alliance called on assets from Patriots to F-16s and F-35s, but the missiles they use can cost $1 million or more. At least some drones Russia flew into Poland were Gerbera decoys that cost around $10,000. The strike Shaheds cost $50,000 or more….
Ukrainian military intelligence said recently that Russia can now produce some 2,700 Shahed-type drones a month. It’s also churning out the decoy drones used to overwhelm air defenses. The payload-bearing Shaheds have a range of some 1,500 miles—enough to strike much of Europe, especially if launched from Belarus or Libya, where Russia is establishing a presence. That range is also enough to hit about 60% of Alaska, including Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau…. [end quote]
Cost asymmetry is an important part of the strategic aims of warfare. The Al-Quaida terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001 cost about $250,000 but led to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which cost the U.S. over $1 trillion and accomplished nothing.
A small part of the U.S. defense establishment is working on drone warfare and an even smaller part on defense against drones, cyber attacks and other low-cost attacks.
Everyone focuses on Russia because of Putin’s naked ambition to conquer and reconstitute the Russian Empire. But the next major war will probably be China’s attempt to conquer Taiwan – a much more delicate affair because the crown jewel is TSMC. China will be more likely to use scalpels instead of bludgeons to avoid damaging TSMC.
The U.S. defense establishment had better get with the program and realize that many empires have been bankrupted by expensive wars. We need cheap defenses to counter cheap attacks.
Wendy
