"Spending lots means nothing if you are buying the wrong kit or wasting it on programs you do not need."
True - a real problem is that by the time a new "Strategy" is approved, the kit is designed and ordered and then delivered may 10-20 years have passed and teh question has changed.
See the Littoral Combat Ship (or the Zumwalt class) saga - nothing wrong with the idea but the strategy has now changed and we're into Distributed Marine Operations. Still the USN will have a load of reasonably effective small ships out of it to deploy so its not a total disaster.
it's also worth pointing out that it isn't just the West who invests in the wrong kit or has problems getting stuff into the front line sometimes - - most major Russian naval programs are delayed badly