Heart’s in the Right Place

Update-We’re quoted by Navy Times! See below.

This NY Times Editorial titled “How to Pay for a 21st-Century Military” is well-meaning but should be called “How to Gut America’s Military Capability. Let’s examine the proposals:

End production of the Air Force’s F-22. I agree. Late-model F-16s, Navy Super Hornets, plus UAVs will ensure America’s aerial dominance for decades and also are a lot more flexible. I have my doubts that the F-35 will add anything to the force that we don’t already possess, save for more massive cost overruns.

Cancel the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyer. Of course, but the Zumwalt isn’t “stealthy blue water combat ship designed to fight the kind of midocean battles no other nation is preparing to wage.” In fact, it is a slightly more capable version of the arsenal ship design of the 1990’s, itself a replacement for the US Navy Iowa battleship for Marine Fire Support. Though well equipped with missiles, the DDG-1000’s primary armament is its advanced gun system able to lob precision shells 50 miles inland. In other words it is a costly and over-large littoral combat ship!

Halt production of the Virginia class sub. Again the author makes a rookie mistake saying this was “modeled on the cold-war-era Seawolf, whose mission was to counter Soviet attack and nuclear launch submarines.” The Virginia actually is another oversized attempt at a littoral submarine. It is probably too big for this role. Perhaps we could get by with fewer but we do need to keep the submarine line going. If we get in a conventional war at sea our closet competitors Russia and China will fight us with aircraft and submarines, not giant aircraft carriers.

Pull the plug on the Marine Corps’s V-22 Osprey. Though the bugs on this unique plane finally seem to be worked out, I agree that we don’t need these in large numbers. Give the 60 already built to the Special Forces and let’s put this tragic mistake behind us.

Halt premature deployment of missile defense. I agree. We are spending vastly too much money trying to contend with lo-tech Third World missile threats. We could never build enough of these launchers to defeat a major nuclear attack from a peer enemy even if it worked properly. MAD has kept us safe for decades, no need to fix something that isn’t broke.

Negotiate deep cuts in nuclear weapons. Before America can have a build-down, we should have a build-up. China and Russia have continually deployed new N-missiles, most alarmingly the latter even while her conventional military and economy have wallowed in bankruptcy. We should replace the entire antique force of Minuteman III’s which date from the 1960s with at the very least the Reliable Replacement Warhead. This should be a must whether we have cuts or not. It is just silly that we can’t replace our decades old nuclear arsenal while the rest of the world does so almost without any national debate. We might also study placing the entire nuke force on nearly undetectable submarines.

Trim the active-duty Navy and Air Force. I concur with this. Consider that a single aircraft carrier would release 5000-6000 trained personnel for duties elsewhere. Also, why do we need thousands of warplanes considering the enhanced capabilities precision bombs like JDAM give them, not to mention the rising use of pilotless drones?

Increase the size of the ground force. Maybe, but considering we are nearing the end of major combat operations in Iraq, and probably in Afghanistan (with fingers crossed!), not sure why we should increase troops strength in a post-war environment.

Pay for the Navy’s needed littoral combat ships. Sure, but lets not limit ourselves to a single class of overly-large and costly littoral ships and investigate the use of cheaper patrol ships and missile attack craft to extend our forces into the volatile Third World shallow seas.

Resupply the National Guard and the Reserves. A no-brainer if they will continue to be part of the “Total Force“. Perhaps instead of increasing the size of the Army and Marines, we should adequately equip the forces we already possess by purchasing new-build armored vehicles like the Stryker as well as off the shelf aircraft like late-model F-16s for the Reserves.

Finally, though there are some good proposals here, most seem more of the same which we expect of the liberals, such as diverting defense funds to social programs despite the fact that many nations in the world want to hurt us, not because of Bush, but because we are a rich, prosperous nation who don’t like our airliners to be rammed in our buildings.

I often contend that Democrats will cut defense programs whether they are needed for our national security or not, while Republicans spend on defense with little regard whether the weapon is necessary to our security. These amateur proposals from the Grey Lady does little to change this argument. Seeking cuts is fine where feasible, but let’s make them reponsible cuts.

Update-From Navy Times “The Times also reported that 10 “unneeded” Virginia-class subs have been built — actually, only five have been built; the sixth, the New Mexico, was christened Dec. 13.”

And on us-”In a post titled “Heart’s in the right place,” blogger Mike Burleson concurred with several of the Times’ recommendations.” More…