Originally Posted by
tartare
There's another unspoken assumption too in all this analysis.
And that's that the United States won't continue to technologically innovate at a rate that outpaces China, which will exponentially increase its force multiplication.
I'm more hopeful than most commentators.
Note again the $12bn per annum expenditure of the USAF in Special Access programs alone.
There is clearly a huge amount going on that we don't know about.
Technically innovate at a rate which outpaces China is an assertion which seems quite unsupported by the evidence. Buying more F-15EXs is indicative of a stagnant culture which has lost the ability to innovate.
The poster child imho are the US government's launch vehicles, all way over budget and modest performers, getting creamed by more innovative private designs from SpaceX.