"And since you brought up the Soviet accounting example of their tanks, which obviously haven't been fielded against our Abrahms, lets consider the tactic of forcing our opponents to match our tech. When they try, they bankrupt themselves and we win by default."
Oh, absolutely. I've applauded the efforts of the Chinese to piss away their resources into near-worthless "supercavitating" torpedos (just ask Jeff Head about my opinion on that matter). Likewise, watching the Chinese and Russians run after our F-22 has value.
But the problem is that they may get smart and choose to use different *tactics* rather than attempt to slug it out with us one on one in an attempt to match their technology to ours.
Rather than send up an SU-30 (or 10) to take on an F-22, they might simply send a swarm of 2,000 UAV bombers towards Taiwan. Our meager fleet of F-22's, advanced as they are, would have great difficulty shooting down so many bogies.
After all, the enemy doesn't always play the way you think he will, you realize?!
The PRC is working hard...and has been for years...to prepare to confornt us...and they have been doing it economically, politically, and militarily.
They have ingeniously/insidiously found a way to dump the old failed Maoist economic practices and adopt a form of fascist/market driven economics against us that in essence uses our own wealth to drive what they are doing.
All warfare is deception - Sun Tzu
When they finally do decide to confront us, unless we take measures to prevent it (economically, politically and militarily, the most important of which IMHO is economic...treating them as Reagan did the Societs and bankrupting them in the pocess) we will probably see all of the following:
- Moving on us only after we are engaged already in multiple theaters (ie. Mid East and Korea first).
- Use a variety of their own conventional high tech against us. (ie. their own Aegis, Supercavitating Weapons (which despite what you may believe Southack, are very relevent and dangerous wepons to our CBGs), SU-30's, Sovremmeny DDG's, anti-sat, etc.)
- Use significant and potentially devastating asymetrical warfare (ie. sleeper/terror cells in the CONUS aimed at population and infrastructure, shut down Panama canal, digitl warfare, economic warfare, etc.)
- Alliances/UNderstandings/Agreement/Intimidation of potential allies to deny the US of their help/assistance/resource.
Now, I believe in any case that the US would come of victorious even in a worst case scenario...but only at horrific cost. If we ct now, particularly economically, although it would be difficult and create hardship...it will be nothing compared to if we wait for the PRC to act on their own timetable.
This is the principle reason I have written the Dragon's Fury Series of Novels, to serve as a warning of what could happen.