“Who could shoot down an air armada of 300 aircraft, much less 3,000? 30,000?”
Stalin: “quantity has a quality all its own.”
It is a longstanding equation, that quality and quantity need to be balanced, because if you go too far in one direction, it makes you vulnerable to the other.
The best example of a time when quantity mattered was during the Korean War, which despite US technology, the Chinese should have won, save for the hemorrhagic hantavirus epidemic that suddenly decimated their forces.
In recent years, technology has dominated, such as in the Iran-Iraq war, where the Iranians had raw numbers that they were willing to expend; and the Iraqis had mechanized infantry, though greatly outnumbered. In that case, a terribly bloody stalemate resulting in a draw.
But I think my point is that all a country would need would be the ability to mass produce cars, along with some off the shelf aircraft engines, bombs and computers. They could discreetly build their air armada for years, and it would be a huge shock to whatever typical army fought them.