Re: Generational Dynamics World View News
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:46 pm
If it was necessary, we could transition to a wartime economy, but such a thing would take 3 years to fully mobilize. In the Second World War, we began transitioning in June 1940 after the fall of France and it took until 1943 to fully do so.
Back in the 1980s, we had twice the number of combat aircraft in the Air Force that we do now. I recently read a report made in 1985 expressing concern that building 250 combat planes per year was insufficient. Taking support and navel aircraft into account, we were able to build several hundred aircraft over the course of a year. Similar for tanks and other vehicles. After the Cold War, however, we dismantled a great deal of our military infrastructure. What we had was considered more than enough, at least until a few years ago.
The best way to cripple China would be to blockade the Strait of Malacca, the Java Sea, and the Sulu Sea. More than anything, Britain's blockade of Germany is what finished them during the First World War. China's dependent on food and oil imports from overseas and while I think they could push us away from their immediate borders while suffering massive losses, they don't have the capability to fight us so far away from home. However, this strategy would be a slow one, once we recognize that this is going to be a long war.
We'd have to mobilize our full strength against a peer competitor for something lasting more than a few months. China would have a similar issue, given it isn't like turning on a light switch. Their ballistic missiles appear intimidating, but they not only have to hunt down our ships in hundreds of thousands of miles of ocean, they need to do so with our own aircraft hunting them down, then getting through our defenses. Both sides would run out of missiles quickly and we won't know how well these missiles perform until the fighting stops.
I wish you the best, John. If the worst happens, thanks for everything I've learned about history and Generational Dynamics.
Back in the 1980s, we had twice the number of combat aircraft in the Air Force that we do now. I recently read a report made in 1985 expressing concern that building 250 combat planes per year was insufficient. Taking support and navel aircraft into account, we were able to build several hundred aircraft over the course of a year. Similar for tanks and other vehicles. After the Cold War, however, we dismantled a great deal of our military infrastructure. What we had was considered more than enough, at least until a few years ago.
The best way to cripple China would be to blockade the Strait of Malacca, the Java Sea, and the Sulu Sea. More than anything, Britain's blockade of Germany is what finished them during the First World War. China's dependent on food and oil imports from overseas and while I think they could push us away from their immediate borders while suffering massive losses, they don't have the capability to fight us so far away from home. However, this strategy would be a slow one, once we recognize that this is going to be a long war.
We'd have to mobilize our full strength against a peer competitor for something lasting more than a few months. China would have a similar issue, given it isn't like turning on a light switch. Their ballistic missiles appear intimidating, but they not only have to hunt down our ships in hundreds of thousands of miles of ocean, they need to do so with our own aircraft hunting them down, then getting through our defenses. Both sides would run out of missiles quickly and we won't know how well these missiles perform until the fighting stops.
I wish you the best, John. If the worst happens, thanks for everything I've learned about history and Generational Dynamics.