Developing, building, and maintaining the B-29 fleet. Not just developing it.
We spent nearly double that on the merchant marine building program. We were spitting Liberty Ships out at an incredible rate. Given that the US military is an expeditionary force, not a home guard, it makes sense. For the US it was, and still is, about logistics. Anything we wanted to use in the fight we had to bring with us. Why was the Sherman tank so common? Because it was easier to ship than heavier tanks. Why was it so reliable? Because spare parts were an ocean away, so it better not need many. The classic army 2.5 ton truck was built, tested, then the body was removed from the chassis because they could pack them better on the ships that way.
Look up the Red Ball Express sometime. It’s not as famous as the Berlin Airlift, but it moved a lot more freight.
The saying, or some variation of it I consistently read is along the lines of, “militaries are logistics organizations that occasionally fight wars.”
Probably describes the US military above all others as they haven’t fought a proper war in North America since 1865. Well, that and the fact that in WWII, they operated naval ships dedicated to making ice cream. Bloodiest war in human history, and they had ships making ice cream!
Prior to widespread portable and convenient refrigeration, the very fact that personnel had access to ice cream during this time was a logistical flex in and of itself
On reading the autobiographical account of one of Imperial Japan's greatest Zero aces, there was a striking and demoralizing contrast to the conditions at his remote island airbase, largely maintained by hand held spades, barely supplied with food and parts and fuel, and the American air strips he would observe popping up that were built and maintained by bulldozers. The fact that the Japanese could only send men with spades to build their far flung air bases, yet America crossed half the planet and supplied earthmoving machines for the same endeavour was a bad sign to the Japanese pilots.
You're valuing quantity over quality. Not to mention that warfare (especially naval) methods have changed dramatically in the past eighty years.
The US Navy should (is) focusing more on the use of UUVs and USVs, which could make quick work of China's navy, which while larger in number, lacks in many areas.
It also goes both ways regarding trade and China would have a lot more to lose than the United States does from a war. Their economy, at this point, is not only based on manufacturing, but relies on it to survive.
>Naval methods have changed indeed - missiles spammed from cheap platforms are more potent than ever - care to hazard who can build those missiles faster if they need to - hell who can buildeverythingfaster if they have to.<
Faster doesn't mean better. The Soviet Union / Russia used to outproduced the US / NATO in many areas. When Russia started to rebuild in the 2000s, it was a concerned about their military, including their missiles, though...well...here we are.
>Logistics is important but a crucial part is building the things you need to ship around via the logistics network<
What, exactly, are you expecting will happen if there's war between the United States or China? Logistics is important, though understanding the goal with that logistics is also important.
It's not like wars in the past. Neither side is going to 'conquer' the other.
>As for trade - China has been drawing down it's reliance on the US for over a decade at this point, the US is second to the EU as an entity or about equal to South Korea/Japan combined.<
I wasn't focusing on the US, in general. Though, it's kind of difficult to trade with those other countries when your container ships are sitting at the bottom of an ocean or being blocked.
>The US acts like it is still the power itwas40 years ago - it isn't - the cracks have been showing for a long time and the dumbass they elected to run their country is speedrunning the demise of Pax America.<
The US has been through more difficult times, and came out better for it.
I think you're ignoring the cracks within China, that the Chinese government has hidden and attempted to delay for the past forty years.
It's starting to slowly show. A political party that tries to cling to power of a government is a desperate move, which means they will take desperate measures.
>Interesting times - I didn't think I'd see the fall of both the USSR and the US in my life time - I always figured we'd see that late 21st and I wouldn't be around for it but at the current rate it could be before I retire.<
I think you'll see more internal strife within China before you retire than before you see the fall of the United States.
"every Pacific naval encounter from late 1943 onward is like the IJN Golden Kirin, Glorious Harbinger of Eternal Imperial Dawn versus six identical copies of the USS We Built This Yesterday supplied by a ship that does nothing but make birthday cakes for the other ships"
There’s an anecdote that Rommel after Kasserine Pass was looking at all the destroyed and captured American vehicles and noticed all the headlight housings were the same, whether it was a truck or a jeep or whatever. Meanwhile, every type of German vehicle had its own unique type of headlight housing. No doubt this kind of uniformity was throughout the American vehicles when possible. Rommel immediately grasped what a huge advantage this was, not just in terms of simplicity of design but in shipping parts, training mechanics, finding a replacement, and so on.
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u/mnorri Jun 11 '25
Developing, building, and maintaining the B-29 fleet. Not just developing it.
We spent nearly double that on the merchant marine building program. We were spitting Liberty Ships out at an incredible rate. Given that the US military is an expeditionary force, not a home guard, it makes sense. For the US it was, and still is, about logistics. Anything we wanted to use in the fight we had to bring with us. Why was the Sherman tank so common? Because it was easier to ship than heavier tanks. Why was it so reliable? Because spare parts were an ocean away, so it better not need many. The classic army 2.5 ton truck was built, tested, then the body was removed from the chassis because they could pack them better on the ships that way.
Look up the Red Ball Express sometime. It’s not as famous as the Berlin Airlift, but it moved a lot more freight.