[Mr. Jeeves]

For half a billion you could retrofit the USS Intrepid, install an supercomputer, and load it with ten thousand armed UCAVs. You'd have an unstoppable robot swarm with global reach.

Very true. And for the same half billion, the Chinese can do the same thing. Put a tactical nuclear warhead on each one and they could sink an entire fleet of DD(X)'s (and a few aircraft carriers as a bonus) in five minutes.

Spare us from Admirals and Generals re-fighting the last war - they are just as expensive as liberal social programs.

[strategofr]

"Very true. And for the same half billion, the Chinese can do the same thing. Put a tactical nuclear warhead on each one and they could sink an entire fleet of DD(X)'s (and a few aircraft carriers as a bonus) in five minutes."

True and an excellent point. Would a massive attack by inexpensive submarines be just as effective, war might we stop that?

[Little Ray]

Don't think you can make 10,000 UAVs for half a billion, much less nuclear ones. And folks would get VERRRRRY curious when you tried to make 10,000 compact nuke warheads...

Besides, there has been an answer to massed aircraft attacks for decades - nuclear SAMs. And even if the nuke doesn't get all of 'em, the EMP will do wonders for their control systems.