[staytrue]

We've spent much of the W years using and abusing our equipment while the Russians and the Chinese are upgrading theirs.

I disagree. We've abused our a-10s, and helicopters and ground transportation, but our navy and airforce have had little abuse during the bush years.

[GBA]

Nothing, except for maybe the B-52, lasts forever...even with military maintenance. "Abused" may be a bit of an overstatement, but not by much.

While it's true that use doesn't mean abuse, it would be interesting to see how much the monthly and yearly average flight hours have changed since 9/11 as well as the tonnage of munitions dropped. The F-15s (other than the F-15E) are starting to come apart.